My CIH theater: 148" / Curved / A.T. / Motorized Masking

[popechild]

My turn (finally). :D

The thread title is a bit misleading, because the masking's not motorized just yet, but as soon as I stick in the Add-a-Motor it should be good to go. Didn't know if I could update the thread title later. Otherwise, here's the details with pics...

The room before we moved in:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/before.jpg

First things first - my mostly DIY rack. I used MA rack rails and shelves, but mounted the rails directly to the wall studs and cut/painted MDF for blanks.

Here it is before blanks have been added, with the hinged, velcroed door open:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/racknoframe.jpg

The blank filler panels I created during the painting stage:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/rackpanels.jpg

...and the finished look:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/rackcomplete.jpg

In the next post I'll move on to the fun stuff - the projector and screen wall...

[popechild]

I went with the Infocus 7210 for the projector, and the HTB anamorphic lens. I've been thrilled with both...

Here they are mounted:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/pj.jpg

I planned (still plan?) to paint the board white to blend in with the ceiling, but wanted to test it out first to make sure everything was going to work alright before going through the trouble. It ended up being such a painful combination of projector/lens to get mounted properly, with SO LITTLE room for error in the positioning to get the image to fit through the lens properly and with no visible geometry problems, that I just haven't wanted to risk taking it down to paint the panel...

On to the screen wall...

I knew I wanted a curved, AT screen, so I decided early on to build a false wall. There's a closet running parallel to the left side of the room where I would have access to the back of the equipment rack, as well as be able to cut a hole through the wall to have access to the front speakers without having to ever remove the screen wall to get to everything.

I didn't get any pictures of the framing process until I had already gotten the frame in place and the screen stapled on. (The screen material is from SeymourAV by the way.)

Here it is with the screen attached. The (slight 3") curve is cut into the face of the 1x6's that run across the length of the room:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/framedscreen.jpg

I didn't know exactly what screen size I would end up with until I actually built the wall, because the combination of the projector with no zoom potential (had to be at the outside end of the zoom range for it to fit through the lens) and no image shift meant that once the projector was mounted, the image couldn't move. So I literally just built the screen wall framing to fit barely around the outside of the projectors image, using it as a guide as I went to take measurements, and leaving just enough room behind the wall to get to the speakers. When it was all said and done, I ended up with a roughly 11 1/2' wide picture.

Here's the area behind the false wall, taken from through the hold in the wall in the side closet:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/behindwall.jpg

...and a closer shot of the wall-mounted speakers. You can see the curve built into the wall a little better in this one:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/behindwall2.jpg

Next we'll move on the most hellish part of the whole project - the masking...

[popechild]

I knew I absolutely wanted side masking, and I wanted to do everything I could to make it remote controllable, but as this was mostly as DIY project, I couldn't afford a multi-thousand dollar commercial option.

I stared out with a vague notion that I would use similar tools as what Gary used in his thread, but he doesn't seem to be around to respond to inquiries in that thread anymore, and little did I know how drastically different my solution would end up having to be.

The two main differences between Gary's situation and mine where that 1) I needed my masking to be AT, and 2) I didn't have room on the sides of the screen to simply slide stiff panels in and out of the way. They had to somehow roll back into the sides. The rolling out part seemed easy enough - use a traverse rod to pull the masking out off a roller. The rolling back part seemed more complicated. I knew I would need tension on the roller, which led me to the ultimate solution of using no-string tensionized shade rollers.

I bought two roll down shades from Lowes, one for each side of the screen, and ripped off the shade and stapled on black GoM AT fabric. So far so good.

Then I realized the bottom part wouldn't pull out at the same time as the top part, so I added a second traverse rod to the bottom of the screen, and replaced the separate strings in both rods with one single 70' long thin length of wire rope that runs through both rods in a continuous loop, thus ensuring that both traverse rods move at exactly the same time/speed. Add in a thin stiff piece of trim along the leading edge to keep a tight edge on it and you're good to go! (If only it were that easy actually doing it and getting it right. This was many, many hours of frustrated labor...)

Anyway, no pics of the individual steps of the process, but here it is all mounted...

The top right traverse rod corner. You can see the GoM wrapped around the roller, and attached with a piece of stiff trim to the traverse rod. It's attached the same way at the bottom:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/traversecorner.jpg

One very, VERY important step that it took me a long time to figure out was that I had to make sure the roller had LOTS of tension already on it in order for it to pull tightly against the fabric and keep the masking tight as the panels are rolled back open. To do this, I actually unscrewed the roller's mounting bracket and rotated it about 10 times by hand (with the fabric already completely rolled onto the roller) before I screwed it back in to the frame. This way there's considerable tension on the roller even with it all the way rolled up, so that when you pull it out then roll it back up, it doesn't allow the GoM to sag at all in the process.

The bottom left corner, showing the second traverse rod. You can see how closely the GoM rides to the screen surface. It stays that tight throughout because the traverse rods are bent slightly to follow the exact curve of the screen:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/traversecorner2.jpg

Here you can see the wire rope that I used to replace the string that was in the traverse rods. I needed one continuous loop so that they would travel in unison, and I also wanted something that didn't have any give in it, so that when I automate this using an Add-a-Motor it should be able to hit the same mark every time:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/wirerope.jpg

Here are two pics showing the panels in action. Note that these were taken before I replaced the trim along the leading edge with a stiffer piece of trim, so the bend that you see in these pictures along the leading edge isn't there anymore.

16:9:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/16x9framed.jpg

4:3:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/4x3framed.jpg

Finally, the trim and final pics...

[popechild]

Note that this still isn't 100% complete. There are a few trim details that I want to add, but they are purely cosmedic. Otherwise, everything is 100% working. Also, the 2.4:1 image is obviously a composite so that I could show the screen with an image that wasn't washed out from the flash...

First I wrapped 3" trim in black velvet. A few pics of that:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/velvet1.jpg

http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/velvet2.jpg

And one more that shows a bit of the screen with it, so you can see how the masking material rides in between the velvet and the screen surface:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/velvet4.jpg

The final step was just choosing a design for the area around the four sides of the screen. I ended up doing a thin "bezel-like" trim painted to make the fall feel more like part of the room around the outside of the velvet trim, then used black duck cloth around that, and finished it off with a 2" painted black trim around the very outside that matches the trim on the equipment rack.

I'll probably add a final thin piece of trim in front of the outside black trim that partially covers it and hides a bit of rope lighting on the sides and top. I'll paint it a light brown/sandstone color like the inside trim to further help the wall feel like a part of the rest of the room.

Hopefully I chose wisely. Enjoy:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/scopefinal.jpg

With the speakers lit up (the color's off a bit, not sure how to properly white balance that pic):
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/backlitfinal.jpg

Here's one with an image on the screen (this is not a composite):
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/scopejessejames.jpg

A scope screenshot in the dark:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/scopeimage.jpg

The same screenshot as a composite:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/scopecomposite.jpg

A 16x9 composite, with masking:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/16x9composite.jpg

And a 4x3 screenshot, which I didn't bother making a composite of:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/4x3final.jpg

That's all folks! It is absolutely not something I could've done without all that I've learned from the forum, so hopefully this will give someone else some ideas for doing their own room. Hope you enjoy!

[R Harkness]

Awesome. I love the clean look! If I were doing strictly a home theater I'd likely go with
an AT screen as well. However, I'm combining my 2 channel system with home theater so I need my speakers free-standing.

I'm also space-challenged at the sides of my screen and have considered rollers for masking. But I've been a bit worried about the whole "tension" thing, and also whether the tensioning of the roller would hold up over time. I'd be curious about the experience of anyone who has employed roller-masking for any length of time.

Killer job, popechild, very inspiring.

[popechild]

Awesome. I love the clean look! If I were doing strictly a home theater I'd likely go with
an AT screen as well. However, I'm combining my 2 channel system with home theater so I need my speakers free-standing.

I'm also space-challenged at the sides of my screen and have considered rollers for masking. But I've been a bit worried about the whole "tension" thing, and also whether the tensioning of the roller would hold up over time. I'd be curious about the experience of anyone who has employed roller-masking for any length of time.

Killer job, popechild, very inspiring.
Thanks for the feedback - as far as the tension, I obviously haven't been using it long, but I don't foresee it being a problem, simply because you have the option to amp the tension up even before the masking is even unrolled over the screen. I could see the tensioning loosening some over time, but I can't imagine it would ever be enough to cause the system not to work anymore unless it completely failed 100%.

[oman321]

Very, very, very nice...

This is perfect for what I want to do. Your system seems easy enough to implement. Couple of questions.

Where did you get the traverse rods from?
It appears that the shade rollers you are using sit flush with the front side of the frame correct?

Can you show some more pics detailing how you finished off the rest of false wall? This would probably be my biggest challange.

Thanks for posting, great job on this and the rack. Congrats.

[oman321]

One thing that I thougt of popechild.

It seems like the add a motor options for traverse rods that im seeing require the drawstring to have a U loop at the end of it to work properly. Have you given any thought to this or were you planning on adding a different type of motor.

[R Harkness]

popechild,

Thanks. I'm envious at how clean and neat your set up turned out! I'll keep in mind
the rollers as a possible alternate solution for my side masking system.

Cheers,

[HDGTX]

Great post popechild!

I ran across this Australian eBay seller "curtaincontrol" offering a traverse rod motor. The cord pulling motor mounts behind one end of the rod and has an IR sensor. We would have to find a different wall wort for it. Maybe this could be adapted to your needs ? Go look at listing number: 280204081196

The instructions for are here:

http://www.hytechscales.com/curtaincontrol/instructions.pdf

[popechild]

Very, very, very nice...

This is perfect for what I want to do. Your system seems easy enough to implement. Couple of questions.

Where did you get the traverse rods from?

Lowes. I believe it's the same one that Gary used in his thread.
It appears that the shade rollers you are using sit flush with the front side of the frame correct?
Pretty much. I placed them so that the leading edge of the fabric would roll off as close to the screen surface as possible.

Can you show some more pics detailing how you finished off the rest of false wall? This would probably be my biggest challange.
I basically just had the inside thin piece of trim surrounding the velvet and the outside black 2" trim, so there was a 15-20" gap otherwise all the way around the screen. You could use whatever you wanted to fill this in, but I was a little worried about sound bouncing around back there if I used wood or something else as solid, so I found a sturdy black duck cloth, cut it to the appropriate dimensions, and velcroed it to the back side of the thin "bezel" frame on the inside and the thicker black frame on the outside. Could've stapled it, but I figure there'll be times when I want access from the front to the rollers if I have any problems with them, so the velcro seemed like a good way to go.

Thanks for posting, great job on this and the rack. Congrats.
Thanks.
One thing that I thougt of popechild.

It seems like the add a motor options for traverse rods that im seeing require the drawstring to have a U loop at the end of it to work properly. Have you given any thought to this or were you planning on adding a different type of motor.
Right now the wire rope runs up and down between the two rods on the left side of the frame but I left enough slack in the side where I had to connect the ends of the rope to form the loop so that I can run it through a few pulleys to make a U out of it when I get the motor.

My biggest concern is if the Add-a-Motor will have enough torque to pull the cord through. Since it's 70' long, and wire instead of string, it takes some heft to pull it through the entire system all at once. Especially when closing down the masking, when it's also pulling against the tension of the rollers. Opening them back up takes a lot less pressure.

[popechild]

Great post popechild!

I ran across this Australian eBay seller "curtaincontrol" offering a traverse rod motor. The cord pulling motor mounts behind one end of the rod and has an IR sensor. We would have to find a different wall wort for it. Maybe this could be adapted to your needs ? Go look at listing number: 280204081196

The instructions for are here:

http://www.hytechscales.com/curtaincontrol/instructions.pdf
Interesting. My concern would be that it doesn't seem to have the ability to set an automatic stop point. It's also just about as expensive as the Add-a-Motor 80, so I'm not sure where the advantage is. The biggest issue with any motor is going to be making sure that the mechanism "grips" the cord tight enough to pull it through consistently.

[oman321]

Right now the wire rope runs up and down between the two rods on the left side of the frame but I left enough slack in the side where I had to connect the ends of the rope to form the loop so that I can run it through a few pulleys to make a U out of it when I get the motor.

My biggest concern is if the Add-a-Motor will have enough torque to pull the cord through. Since it's 70' long, and wire instead of string, it takes some heft to pull it through the entire system all at once. Especially when closing down the masking, when it's also pulling against the tension of the rollers. Opening them back up takes a lot less pressure.

Be sure to take some pics of how you loop everything through when you get to that. I want to start building my false wall in a few weeks and want to account for this system. Thanks again.

[popechild]

I just talked to a guy at Add-a-Motor who said that it'll take between 6-8 pounds of pressure. I'm fairly certain that I'll need more than that, as it takes a fair amount of torque to get it pulled all the way through both rods, and to pull against the tension of the shade rollers. So it looks like I might need to look for a different motor solution. I saw someone used a garage door motor once - I wonder if I could rig that up to it somehow. (Or does anyone know if HTIQ or anywhere sells just the IR/motor control of their masking systems?

[Andy238]

Very clean design and install. Great job! I wish my HT was that wide. So the roller shades are working for you? That's good news to know.

Don at HTIQ was working on a motor only solution to sell. He mentioned an availability date of end of January. Haven't heard anything yet though.

If you look in the 4-way masking thread here you'll find the "somehow" for controlling the motor with an IR relay board and limit switches. I never thought of a garage door opener motor. Is it quiet enough? I'm sure it will have the umph needed.

Andy

[HDGTX]

Read on this forum of folks recommending automotive power window motors. Don at HTIQ recommended using a motor with ~ 150 oz/in of torque. Torque info values are hard to come by on some web sites that sell bargin elect motors. Robotics sites seem to list that info more often from what I have seen. Here's a robotic web site for motors and they sell from cheap to really expensive !

http://robotcombat.com/products/motors_main.html

Lower cost motor web sites, may have little torque info on some models:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category/400400/DC_Gear_Motors.html

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1300

Hope this helps :).

John

[popechild]

Thanks for the motor suggestions - I'll look into them. I got the screen finished to this point just in time to get slammed at work and not be able to put any finishing touches on it, but unless I find a little monkey who's willing to live behind the screen and pull the masking back and forth for me, I definitely plan on automating it one way or another as soon as I can find the time.

[camarillo_cinema]

Don at HTIQ recommended using a motor with ~ 150 oz/in of torque.


Actually, I recommend at least 175 oz-in. But, it depends on the load. Usually, the system would be designed with the motor and drive system spec'd for the application. Matt did a fantastic job coming up with a fully functional masking system. But, adding a motor in this scenario would be like trying to drop a VW engine into a Chrysler. It can be done, but with a lot of retro-fitting and engineering.

I'm not sure if an Add-A-Motor solution would work. I would imagine that there is a lot of resistance in the cable system, whereby the cord will slip around the pulley.

One thing to keep in mind: Chinese motors are spec'd in N-M, and will almost always have mm shaft sizes. You will have to do the conversion.

Look for a motor and controller offering in March, along with a couple other pieces of hardware, to build a masking system from scratch.

Don

[Andy238]

So Don. You know March is tomorrow, right? :D

Looking forward to seeing what your're cooking up. Might save a bunch of soldering and fiddling.

Andy

[HDGTX]

Hi Don, good to hear from you. Sorry about my memory on the oz/in torque amount you had recommended. Thanks for clearing the up. Looking forward to what you will be bring to market soon. :)

John

[camarillo_cinema]

One thing to keep in mind: Chinese motors are spec'd in N-M, and will almost always have mm shaft sizes. You will have to do the conversion.

Don

Correction: Chinese motors are spec'ed in terms of g-cm. Shaft sizes ARE in mm.
Don

[ilsiu]

Very nice job.

It appears that you didn't add do any acoustical treatment behind the screen wall - have you noticed any tradeoffs in audio quality?

[HDGTX]

Hey Don,

Are there charts on the Internet that show conversion
between "oz/in" to "ft/lb" & "g/cm" torque #s ? Since the motor mfg's often give their torque measurements in different ways, it is confusing trying to compare one motor to another between differnt brands.
Popechild. I was wondering if you could loosen up the pre tension on the rollers a bit, to see if became easier to move the masks to see if you could do with less ? How smoothly did the curtain rods move before the mask assembly was added ? Just wondering.
Wow, great DIY work you have built ! Looking forward to hear & see more photos as you complete your HT.

John

[HDGTX]

Popechild, Do you have a link to the fellow "Gary" that you mentioned early to his masking build ? I would like to see his approach. Thanks.

[popechild]

Very nice job.

It appears that you didn't add do any acoustical treatment behind the screen wall - have you noticed any tradeoffs in audio quality?
Short answer. No.
Long answer. I'm probably not enough of an audiophile to notice.
Popechild. I was wondering if you could loosen up the pre tension on the rollers a bit, to see if became easier to move the masks to see if you could do with less?
Yeah, I should probably try that. But it's just kind of a pain, especially now that I've got the surrounding material in place. I think I pre-tensioned the rods something like 8-10 turns each. I know when I tried just 4 or 5, it wasn't tight enough and the material still sagged as it was being re-rolled. It'd probably take a little testing to see if there's an exact number of pre-turns that would do the trick, but even then I kind of doubt it would help as far as the motor is concerned. It's the length of the wire running through the traverse rods that is adding the most friction, as far as I can tell.
How smoothly did the curtain rods move before the mask assembly was added? Just wondering.I don't remember exactly, but it was definitely easier than it is now.
Wow, great DIY work you have built ! Looking forward to hear & see more photos as you complete your HT.
JohnThanks!
Popechild, Do you have a link to the fellow "Gary" that you mentioned early to his masking build ? I would like to see his approach. Thanks.
First page of this very forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=817776

[chadcummings]

How far back is your seating and how did you figure the curve of your screen?

[popechild]

How far back is your seating and how did you figure the curve of your screen?
My seating is about 16' back, but I actually haven't measured it precisely. I have a L-shaped sectional instead of theater seats, because I plan to use it alot for sporting events and other watching where I wanted it to be more casual and easier for people to chat and hang out without having to look over their should to the back row.

Are you asking how I figured out what the curve should be, or how I actually cut it? I used a spreadsheet (Bob's?) that calculated a depth for me, but those calculations are dependent on specific projectors/lenses, so they're not necessarily exact anyway. I ended up basically just picking a curve depth that felt right to me - that turned out to be about 3". I wanted enough so that it's noticeable to the naked eye with the lights on, but not so deep I caused myself problems. 3" ended up being a good compromise for me, because I continued the curve outside the edges of the screen in the wall, so there's actually about a 4.5-5" total depth from the side edges of the wall to the middle of the screen. That gives it a nice curved look without yanking the edges of the screen itself too far forward.

Actually marking a cut line onto the wood was the hardest part, because my radius I calculated ended up being something like 60'. Obviously I couldn't very easily pull a string out 60' feet and draw a curve on a piece of wood. So I actually ended up using Powerpoint, and by a painfully slow process of drawing a 60' radius circle, and then determining how far in the circle cirved every 6" from its center point, I was able to take a list of measurements in 6" increments and mark a bunch of points on the wood. Then I just used a straight edge to draw a straight line between each two points, and it turned out to be plenty of points to turn the final line into a pretty smooth curve.

I have no idea if that makes any sense, but since I'm not even sure if that's what you're asking, I'll wait to clarify further until I find out someone actually wants more info.

[chadcummings]

A better way of wording what I wanted was how did you figure and draw your radius, but you answered it.

Thanks,
Chad

[pkarmouche]

Nice job! If you were sitting closer to the screen do you think the AT perforations would be a distraction? I'm contemplating a large screen like this but my 1st row would be closer than yours.

Thanks for the detailed post!

Paul

[popechild]

I don't think I would notice the perforations. I do think in 2.4 mode some movies would get a little overwhelming. It's perfect to me right now, but I wouldn't want it any closer.

[dth122]

Quick question... how did you adjust the stops in the Lowe's roller shades so that the clutch didn't hold the roller from rotating as the mask sides retracted? (This is the mechanism that would hold a roller shade at various positions in normal horizontal operation covering a window.) I've been trying to solve this problem on a similar masking system, but it seems that it didn't cause you an difficulties.
- Dave

[popechild]

Quick question... how did you adjust the stops in the Lowe's roller shades so that the clutch didn't hold the roller from rotating as the mask sides retracted? (This is the mechanism that would hold a roller shade at various positions in normal horizontal operation covering a window.) I've been trying to solve this problem on a similar masking system, but it seems that it didn't cause you an difficulties.
- Dave
I don't think the shades have built-in stops. I think the way these work by design is they "stop" when you pull them down and then let go. Then when you give them another pull down, they start to pull back up and keep pulling until it's all the way back up.

I pre-screwed the holes for the little bracket that holds the shades where I wanted it to go, then unscrewed it so I was just holding the bracket onto that end of the shade, with the other end sitting in the other bracket (already screwed into place). Then I manually twisted the bracket around enough times to give good tension (simulating the "pull down"), and when it was tight enough, I screwed it back into the holes I'd already screwed. Then when I actually pulled the shade out on each side, it was simulating that 2nd pull which "releases" the shade. A couple of times when I was testing it out it didn't get released properly, but a little twist of the roller by hand generally did the trick.

Now that it's installed, it never catches, because it never thinks that the shade's been rolled all the way back up. Even when it is rolled all the way, since there's still tension on the roller from when I pre-rolled it, it just stays "un-caught" for good.

Hope that helps.

[dth122]

I guess you're right - if you don't simulate the quick-pull down to start the retraction, then you should be fine. However, as you note, there were a few times when you were testing that it didn't get released properly and you had to twist the roller by hand to get it to move. Are you worried that's going to happen now during normal operation? I see your point about it never catching. I guess I'll keep working with mine to see what happens. I was hoping to find a solution that's a straight tube with a spring and no retraction clutch, just to keep things simple.

On another simpler note... I have a similar setup where there's little space on the sides of my screen, and what is there is taken up by the masking mechanism. What do you do to get behind the screen for service? Right now my plan is to remove the panels at the bottom of the screen and crawl underneath, but a way to remove the screen from the front would be idea. Any thoughts?

Thanks.
- Dave

[popechild]

If you check out the pictures at the top, I have a closet that runs next to one side of the theater, so I actually just cut a big hole in that side wall behind where the screen runs, so I just walk through the closet to get around behind the screen. I'm honestly not sure what I'd suggest other than that. I will say that my side masking only takes up 6" or so max on the outside of my screen, so I wouldn't have had to make the screen too much smaller in order to be able to fit slide through there if I had to. But then again, I'm not that big of a guy.

[megalopav]

I hate your amazing skills

[CMRA]

Ubernice!

The piping adds a classy touch. Well done!

[okron]

Popechild

It's been a while since you've had the masking system up.....how is it holding up? Any issues/tips in retrospect? I'm trying to work with a limited width so I wonder could you have attached the roller to the 2x6" to save width?

Ron

[popechild]

Seems like the last couple of posts in the thread disappeared for some reason? Anyway, here's a reply to the last post that went bye-bye apparently...

You have a great design here, glad to hear it's holding up (can't always say that for my work).
Thanks!

On depth....can you tell me what the distance is from the front of the curtain rod (masking fabric) to the back of the rod where it attaches to the wood?Maybe 3 or 4 inches? You can probably see it better than I can describe it in this pic from the first post:
http://www.summersetproductions.net/guest/theater/traversecorner.jpg

On width...how much additional width do you have on each side for the roller and rod?
See same pic. Obviously the rod brackets could be brought in even closer if you really needed them to be, but as it is it's only about 6 inches.

Finally....couldn't tell from the pics...to move the fabric do you access the pull wire from the front or rear?
Rear.

[okron]

Popechild....what did you end up using as your rod between your traverse rods on each side. It looks like wood but what size/kind worked for you?

Ron

[popechild]

Popechild....what did you end up using as your rod between your traverse rods on each side. It looks like wood but what size/kind worked for you?

Ron
Don't know the exact size, but it's just trim that I found at either HD or Lowes. Probably about a half inch thick. I went for the best combination of thin + stiff I could find. I tried one before that was a little thinner (more of a rectangle) because it had a curved edge on one side that I thought would look better against the screen surface. It ended up bending too much with the constant tension from the rollers. This one is pretty square, and has held up pretty good, though you might be able to find a little bend in it if you measured it precisely. The extra depth from the screen surface isn't noticeable at all either.

[mikela]

popechild,

This approach is right on the money. I have had some SMX material for some time and have just not gotten around to building a frame. At first, I was toying around with the idea of building an aluminum frame and having it curved by a metal shop. However, taking a 1x6 or 1x8 and cutting in the curve would be a much easier approach. The big problem I have seen in other implementations is that the bracing required to maintain the geometry would interfere with the placement of my sealed Statement speakers http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=29968 . I think what you have done is use the false wall to support the frame...brilliant! I think I will deviate slightly by using velcro or some means where I can easily remove it if I need to move the theater.

Mike

[popechild]

popechild,

This approach is right on the money. I have had some SMX material for some time and have just not gotten around to building a frame. At first, I was toying around with the idea of building an aluminum frame and having it curved by a metal shop. However, taking a 1x6 or 1x8 and cutting in the curve would be a much easier approach. The big problem I have seen in other implementations is that the bracing required to maintain the geometry would interfere with the placement of my sealed Statement speakers http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=29968 . I think what you have done is use the false wall to support the frame...brilliant! I think I will deviate slightly by using velcro or some means where I can easily remove it if I need to move the theater.

Mike
Thanks for the note - good luck with your build! The only note I'd have is that if you want to do velcro or something else non-permanant with the screen, I'd use it to attach the frame to the wall, not the screen to the frame. You want to make sure to keep the screen material as taut as possible. That's why I ended up stapling the scree material. If I need to move it down the road, I can always just pull the staples out and re-use the material later.

[foraye]

Roughly, what is the Length X Width of the material you purchased from Seymour, and what is the finished size of your 2.4:1 screen?


Thanks

[popechild]

I believe the rolls come in something like 63" width, which was perfect for me because my height is pretty close to 60", so that gave me another inch or so on the top and bottom to staple into, and I didn't have to cut it down on that dimension at all. I think I bought either 12 or 13 feet of the roll, and used 11.5 or so of it. I'm having trouble remembering the exact dimensions off the top of my head since I didn't build it to a certain spec, but rather to the actual image being thrown by my projector.

[foraye]

I believe the rolls come in something like 63" width, which was perfect for me because my height is pretty close to 60", so that gave me another inch or so on the top and bottom to staple into, and I didn't have to cut it down on that dimension at all. I think I bought either 12 or 13 feet of the roll, and used 11.5 or so of it. I'm having trouble remembering the exact dimensions off the top of my head since I didn't build it to a certain spec, but rather to the actual image being thrown by my projector.

Ok thanks,

I spoke with Seymour earlier this week and they can now go up about 96 or 98" high screens!. i do not yet have an Anamorphic lens, so I'll have to do the math, to build the screen first...oh well more research!

[Jim S.]

That is an absolutely awesome set-up. Nicely done. I think what sets that screen apart from every other screen is the brown border around the frame. Classy. I'm copying that in a heart beat, if I can figure it out. How did you make, bend and fasten that piece?

[popechild]

That is an absolutely awesome set-up. Nicely done. I think what sets that screen apart from every other screen is the brown border around the frame. Classy. I'm copying that in a heart beat, if I can figure it out. How did you make, bend and fasten that piece?
Thanks for the kind words. The frame does add a nice touch to it in my opinion. It's actually kind of a light color, I forget exactly what it's called, maybe Sandstone or something? It's just a spray paint I got from HD or Lowes. And the frame itself is simply trim from the hardware store. I think it's like 1.25" wide, and has a little "curve" to its design. I just picked out one that I thought would look classy. Then I cut the 4 sides to length and spray-painted them. They're thin enough that they bend really easily (only the top and bottom piece need to bend). I actually just attached them using little L brackets directly to the outside edge of the velvet-covered border frame so they surround it and stick out just slightly from it.

The last piece was just nail-gunning the 4 corners together to make sure that they all looked nice and snug. They don't fit 100% exactly together, but they're close enough that you don't notice it if you're not up close looking for it.

Hope that helps.