My first double-side movie poster arrived in the mail today... "The Incredibles".

I'm going to attempt to make my own lightboxes.

A sane person would wait until the project was over until he posted a step-by-step guide, but since the glue says it needs 3 hours to dry, this seems like a good time to document my initial steps.

My inspiration came from these websites:
http://www.weilandworks.com/summerland/lightbox_overview.html
http://hovanic.homeip.net/gallery/MoviePoster
http://white.hometheatertalk.com/tips/posterbox.htm

Hopefully my end result will look something like this:
http://www.weilandworks.com/summerland/images/lightbox/lightbox_large1.jpg

I plan on using ropelight instead of fluorescent lights.

Here's what I bought at Home Depot tonight:
1" x 3" x 8' pine boards for frame... qty 2 @ $2.79 = $5.58
8' trim moulding... qty 2 @ $7.78 = $15.56
3.25" square rosettes for trim corners... qty 4 @ $2.28 = $11.20
8' weatherstripping with double slots... qty 2 @$1.99 = $4.98
#8 x 1/2" screws... $1.90
36" x 48" acrylic plexiglas... $20.99
4' x 8' tileboard (makes 3 frames)... $9.95/3 = $3.32/frame
2' x 4' light diffuser... qty 1.5 @ $4.19 = $6.29
24' ropelight = $14.96

Let's see if we can build a frame that's worth $84.78

http://tinypic.com/19krv4

cool, how many are you gonna make?

Just one for now to see how it looks.

If it comes out OK, I'll go get supplies for 2 more since I've got 3 sections of tileboard.

http://tinypic.com/19kuo4

Dang... my ropelight from Home Depot has a dead section in the middle.

cant wait to see final result.

I too am in the middle of producing my own poster light boxes.

I went the extra mile and got 4 sheets of uv5 filtered acrylic. (2 per box)
Cost a bit, but after taking a poster down from the wall, I noticed the sun light had faded it pretty well.

Thanks for the picture with the weather striping. Very useful. I guess your going with a top loading system?

I opted for a back loading.

A.

I'm going to leave one of the sides unscrewable so I can side-load a new poster.

How much was your acrylic?

I'd also like to find a better diffuser... HD only had 2'x4' sheets of light panels. That means I'm going to have to tape together 24"+4" to get the width I need (don't worry, my front clear acrylic is wide enough). Since this is what I'm taping the poster to, I'd like to have a single, sturdy sheet. If the acrylic wasn't so expensive, I'd buy another sheet and sand or paint it to diffuse it, but I'll use the $4 stuff behind the poster until I find something better.

Next step... mitered the corners...

http://tinypic.com/19l4e1

Looking good Clarence.

My glass did cost a bit. After tax they were $50 Canadian each. Thats pretty well on par as I was quoted $35 US from http://www.hollywoodposterframes.com/ but they don't ship to Canada.

I bought my stuff from http://www.canusplastics.com/main.html
I highly recommend them as they saved my butt. I ordered my glass cut to 27x40 only to realize my reprintings were wider then advertized. Canus was able to make my order to 27.5x40 for no extra charge. I also picked up a nice narrow piece from their free bin. Going to make a sign out of it.

My first plan had me using 2 pieces of disfusser. I was going to glue them together.

A.

You have the width on the difusser.
I was going to cut 2 pieces to fit 27x20 each.

Oh tip, you may want to try refelective tape on the back broad. That's what I plan on using.
You know the stuff they use on heating ducts.

None of these are my photos.

http://temp.justdrive.ca/lightbox/pages/fa20d821.html

Just examples I've been studying.


A.

BTW great work.... :)

I'm making a run to HD this morning.
Going to buy the pieces I need to get my framing started.
I'll writing up my lists and will post them later, but I'm buying enough to build my two boxes.

A.

I used a lot of the same materials as you Clarence. I was lazy in the construction though as mine I installed in window openings to cover them up. I just butt jointed everything and stuck them in. This photo is prior to them completed, but you can see them in the wall...

Here it is complete but not mounted...

After assembling it last night, I'm going to make a few changes on my second one...

The weatherstripping strips are just too shallow so I'm going to switch the framing from 1"x3" to 2"x3" or 2"x4". Then I'm going to use a router or a table saw to cut the grooves for the plexiglas and diffuser.

Jay, I'm going to switch to butt-jointing too... I considered that last night, but I liked the nice clean cut that the miter gave to the joining weatherstripping. I'm not too concerned about the framing corners because they won't be seen behind the trim.

Did you use ropelights? I'm not sure they're going to be bright enough. I might see what Lowes has.

I figure I can route the grooves 3/4" or 1" deep... then I'll cut the plexiglass wider. Even though my first frame came out very sturdy and square (stapling on the tileboard really helps), there's just too much flex in the plexiglas and it takes a lot of effort to get it to stay in the weatherstripping on all four sides.

As an added benefit, switching to 2"x3" will be ~$7 cheaper because I won't need to buy the weatherstripping or screws.

I don't know if I'll have time to mess with it tonight though... I'm helping my son with his pinewood derby car and I have to put up some crown moulding for the wife (which was supposed to be the primary reason I went to Home Depot).

And here is how I did the rope light. The top hanging piece is secured in the corner. I used open screw eyes every 6" and then just ran the rope light around each one in a zig zag.

Thanks... Check the ropelight attachment. It's the same (picture2a)

Opps...thanks Clarence...it's fixed now. :)

I just returned from Home Depot after a $125 spending spree.

I'm building 2 frames so its costing a little more. (Double)

While I was there, I switch my design.

I was jusy going butt join my frame and put some kind of trim over top.

I could not find anything I liked, so I'll do a mitter cut for the frame and use a 1/2" round to hold the glass in place.

I may stain the pine or paint it. Have not decided yet.

I will do a mach up this afternoon and upload some photos.

A.

Awesome work guys!!Keep the pics coming.I love to see forum members going the DIY approach.Just shows how much we can save and get as good or better results.

brickie

Cost Saving Meassure!

I'm taping up the back board when I thought to myself. This tin tape is $$$ and I'm going to need another roll to do the 2nd box.
Plan B. Aluminum Foil, I will use the tape and staples to hold it down nicely.

A.

I made my cuts today, but will have to plain the inner frame before I can cut the pieces to size.

http://www.justdrive.ca/theatre/gallery/01-16-05/index.html

Side note, I will be altering my design next time. The plywood is not as straight as I was hoping for.

http://www.justdrive.ca/theatre/gallery/01-16-05/slides/IMG_2947.JPG

A.

I returned the burned out Hampton Bay ropelight to HD. I bought a couple of rolls of 24' Sunbeam ropelight at Target... a couple of bucks cheaper, but not any brighter.

I wish I'd noticed your screw-eyes tip for stringing the lights. I would've bought a pack of those, too.

The white tile board is pretty bright and glossy/reflective, but if it looks like it needs more light, I think I have a mylar space blanket somewhere. A little spray adhesive...

But I can already tell tonight's 2x4 frame is going to be MUCH better than last night's 1x3 frame... sturdier, stronger screwed corners, deeper groove for the plexiglass, and even a couple of bucks cheaper.

TIP #1: the blade-width on a table saw is EXACTLY the right width for holding the plexiglas. I cut 2 grooves, each 3/4" deep. I bought a 1/8" router bit, but didn't need it.

TIP #2: use scraps of plexiglass in the grooves to align the corners when screwing them together. Perfect alignment.

http://tinypic.com/19sbde

Hey not bad, so when you mount the poster are you going to tape it to the front glass?

A.

I'm going to try taping it at the top of the diffuser, following advice from Weilandfilm (http://www.weilandworks.com/summerland/lightbox_thetrim.html)we had to fall back on our old friend, transparent tape. But don't despair. You'll only be applying a few pieces (three to four that are 2-inches in length) of Scotch tape horizontally along the top of the poster. Gravity should do the rest, and the poster will simply hang in the air pocket between the two pieces of Plexiglas.

By the way, don't worry about seeing tape on your poster when it is displayed in the lightbox. You will only be overlapping (at most) a ¼" of tape onto the poster, and the front rail assembly will sufficiently matte the outer rim of the poster so that the tape won't be seen.

As a side note, it should be known that the original design called for the poster to be sandwiched firmly between and suspended solely by the two Plexiglas panels. In fact, the prototype was constructed this way, and I was forced to administer the biggest change to my design as a result. At first, the poster hung great. But after a few days, the print started to sag and ripple since it wasn't able to freely expand and contract. Given their size and flimsy nature, the plexi panels flexed and could not maintain a firm hold across the entire surface of the poster. So as the humidity and temperature (from the lamps) changed, the poster would exhibit ripples in those areas that weren't tightly sandwiched. So I was forced to create an air pocket between the plexi panels of my prototype only a month after I thought I had finished my project.

Since employing the air pocket solution over a year ago, I've not had one wrinkle or ripple in my Gladiator theatrical poster. It has floated freely, allowing for expansion and contraction caused by both humidity and temperature changes. In addition, I've not had to re-tape the poster either.

Yeah saw that, I'm going to give the sandwith method a try with my first box.

So many options.

A.

Wow... it's turning out even better than I hoped.

The sawblade grooves are really working out well... I've removed the side of the frame and replaced the poster a dozen times already. The ropelight is providing a VERY even, diffused backlight.

I haven't attached the trim yet because I don't know what color I'm going to stain it. But I propped up the uncut trim on the sides for a quick picture...

http://tinypic.com/19ttll

I ended up taping it to the back of the clear plexi instead of on top of the diffuser. And I used electrical tape to border the whole poster because I was getting a little light spill around the edges. It looks great with the lights on or off.

I just bought 2 more DS posters :D

So clarence, is there a verdict on whether the ropelight is sufficient?

Sweet. Very nice work.

I may consider another approach for my second frame.

A.

Originally posted by coolhand
So clarence, is there a verdict on whether the ropelight is sufficient? It's not bad as is, but it could be brighter, especially if I end up putting these on a dimmer.

I'm going to search around on the forum and see if there's a brighter brand. I think they all say "extra bright"... I'll check ebay too.

Otherwise, I might just get a larger length of rope light... I'm using 24' now... I might try 36' or even 48'.

There is ZERO indication of the rope pattern behind the diffuser. Even my wife said that she expected to be able to see a brighter outline above the rope, but it's nice and evenly lit.

Originally posted by Clarence
It's not bad as is, but it could be brighter, especially if I end up putting these on a dimmer.

I'm going to search around on the forum and see if there's a brighter brand. I think they all say "extra bright"... I'll check ebay too.

Otherwise, I might just get a larger length of rope light... I'm using 24' now... I might try 36' or even 48'.

There is ZERO indication of the rope pattern behind the diffuser. Even my wife said that she expected to be able to see a brighter outline above the rope, but it's nice and evenly lit.

That's exactly what my thoughts were. You saw the way I did mine...Mine are plenty bright. I zig-zagged the rope lights so that I would have the even illumination. I bought mine at Lowes before I worked at Home Depot. I'm sure they're all similar. I used 24' lengths, but I did make sure the box was sealed. I did not use any type of reflector in the case.

Jay

the light boxs look great guys.
I've been planning on building one for a while now and hope to find time in the next week or two to actualy do it.

quesiton about posters...do they have to be double sided posters to work in the box?

the construction looks fantastic. Why dont you try mounting 2 t-8 electronic ballast fluroscents to the back. Cut some mini slats or groves behind each one to vent.

I downloaded the same site you got that from. The construction looks sweet! ITs just a matter of getting the lighting to create a bright even light.

keep up the good work and keep us posted

Kitty,
By all accounts it is greatly recommended that you use double sided posters. They are designed specifically for this application. Single sided posters appear washed out. You can find a lot of double sided posters on eBay for less than you might pay for a single sided reproduction. You just have to be patient, and yes, lucky.

I have gotten a number of DS posters recently with the plan of building three of these lightboxes. Keep up the good work fellas!

I used 27 feet of Hampton Bay rope for my DIY Marquee. I understand that it is not as bright as some other rope lights but with the interior painted gloss white, the brightness level is about right. Plan B was to add more rope.... I hope to wire my single marquee at the rear of the theater into the Grafic Eye.

I thought about using screw eyes to secure the rope, but went with some plastic saddles and nylon ties I saw at an electronic's supply store, to secure the rope. Worked great.

Here is a custom display from home-theater-lightboxes.com.

Clarence

I'm a little confused on your picture frame2a.gif above. Did you put the butted 2x4 on top of the 1x3?

Also the cut groves, how many inchs did you leave between the two grooves?

No, the 2nd frame I built (pictured in frame2a.gif) used ONLY butted 2x4s, no 1x3's at all (that was only in my first attempt). The butted 2x4's are MUCH better than the mitered 1x3 design.

The white tile board is stapled directly to the back of the 2x4s with 1" air-compressor staples.

And the trim goes on top of the 2x4s. I painted the sides of the 2x4s flat black and I'm staining the top trim cherry bottom coat with mahogany top coat.

The grooves are probably 1/2" apart (and 3/4" deep). I'm on the road right now, but I plan on posting the exact measurements as built.

sweet

thanks Clarence.

I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

Thanks for the progress Clarence.

Just so happens, my co-worker needed some plexiglass today for another project, so we went in on a 4x8 sheet. Guess I'm comitted now.

Looking forward to the final specs and finished project.

When you cut the plexiglass, HD sells a $2 cutter... looks like a mix between a box cutter and a grout saw. Works fine. Score a groove with about 20 scrapes along a straight edge, then snap the seam against the edge of a table.

I tried a scrap with a circular saw and tape... nope... cracks and shatters.

I'm also going to try calling local glass shops for nonglare, tempered glass. Anybody have an idea how much 28"x42" might cost? The plexi looks great now, but my wife tends to dust and clean all the time (I think dimming the lights would be just as effective), so I suspect the plexi will eventually show swirl marks.

Originally posted by Clarence

I'm also going to try calling local glass shops for nonglare, tempered glass. Anybody have an idea how much 28"x42" might cost? The plexi looks great now, but my wife tends to dust and clean all the time (I think dimming the lights would be just as effective), so I suspect the plexi will eventually show swirl marks.

That is about the size of a pinball playfield glass, they run about $30-$40 and are tempered. As for 'swirl' marks, NOVUS #2 works really good for polishing out small scratches in plastics.

Steve

Originally posted by jeeper
That is about the size of a pinball playfield glass, they run about $30-$40 and are tempered. As for 'swirl' marks, NOVUS #2 works really good for polishing out small scratches in plastics.

SteveThanks Steve. Do you use the Novus on your Jeep windows? (I have a '02 TJ[X])

I called some local glass shops...
28"x42" at 1/8" thick ranged from $17, $28, $32. Not too bad since I paid $21 for the plexiglass at HD.
Nonglare was $53.
Frosted (for diffuser behind the poster) was $69.
3/16" thick was $46.

I guess I should also specify tempered?

Hi
I am planning on building poster boxesas well my design is similar using dados in 3" plywood frame to hold poster and then I wasplanning to use short flouresent light at the top of the frame, thinking it will cast light down thru rear of poster, I see you sandwich the poster between 2 pieces of plexi, pls tell me reson behind that, do you think ropelighting is better than flourescent light
thx for the help
Peter

http://tinypic.com/1fe1qp

looks awesome Clarence.

do you have a list of material you used?

That thing is a lot nicer than the ones at the movies!!

Well Done!

Originally posted by bluekitty
looks awesome Clarence.

do you have a list of material you used?

http://tinypic.com/1fffvr

Two 8-foot 2"x4" studs:
(2) 27 3/8" top/bottom frame
(2) 43" 3/8" sides

Two 8-foot pieces of trim:
(2) 25 3/4" top/bottom
(2) 38" 5/8" sides

(4) 3.25" rosette corners

plexiglass (28 3/4" x 41 1/4")

tile board for back (30 1/4" x 43 3/8")

(2) 2'x4' light panels (taped seam) for diffusor (28 3/4" x 41 1/4")

24' rope light

cross section

http://tinypic.com/1ffgp5

Thanks a lot Clarence

I'll be headning over to HD to pick up a few supplies to start on it.

Hopefully it comes out as well as yours.

Just to warn you, I'm already making mental notes about tweaks I'll change in version 3...

- I'll use 2x3's for the frame.
- Use glass instead of plexiglass.
- Instead of 2 sawblade grooves, I'll just use one (for the rear diffusor), and I'll push the front glass against the trim, held in with quarter-round (or I'll see if the tablesaw can cut the groove against the flush face of the 2x3).
- I'll use 36' or 48' of ropelight. Or who knows, I might even re-look at fluorescents afterall.

http://tinypic.com/1fjsb6

Looks great! I'm getting ready to add on a lobby and I need to make me some of these. Thanks for the great directions!!

Well based on all the info gleaned from these posts I whipped up a poster box over the weekend as well.

I used a 48ft strand of ropelight and it's not bad. Even that could be brighter. Does make the posters look nice. I used cup hooks along the side to weave the rope light around that way I was able to use just 1/8 white hardboard as the backing since the sides are what hold the rope light in place. The rope light was weaved along the longer axis of frame.

I built the frame out of 1 X 4 poplar with 1/4 inch saw cuts to hold the material in place.

Trim on the front more or less the same as what has already been shown in these posts....

Sorry did not take photos as I was building, but I will put a photo of the finished product on my site in the next few days.

Thanks to all the guys that posted photos and provided the web links...

Skippy31

How easy is it to change out posters in these models?

Changing out the poster takes about 5 minutes. I remove the plexiglass by sliding it out, tape the poster to the back of the plexiglass and then slide it back into place. The trim on mine is removable at the top thus providing easy access to slide the plexi out.

You do need to (at least in my case) take the lightbox down from the wall while changing the poster. I installed it in such a way that I can get it down easily.

Yup, tried it last night and it takes 5 minutes or so.

Skippy31

I left one side of the 2x4 frame unstapled to the rear tileboard so I can unscrew it, slide out the plexi on the grooves, and swap the poster.

The red arrows are the removable screws. Also note that the side trim and rosettes are also appropriately attached to the removable side...

http://tinypic.com/1g3f5c

It just takes a few minutes.

Originally posted by Clarence
Thanks Steve. Do you use the Novus on your Jeep windows? (I have a '02 TJ[X])



Yep, use it on my CJ-7 windows and also use it to clean/polish pinball playfield parts.
(both can be seen at .... http://photos.yahoo.com/Mich_Jeeper )

Your poster frame looks great! Nice job.

Steve

Well as Clarence had pointed out 1x3's are not up to the task of supporting a posterbox.

So I went about redisigning my rear loading setup.

I took a page from Clarence's plan and went with the 2x4 butted method.

http://theatre.justdrive.ca/gallery/02-05-05/slides/IMG_3182.JPG

http://theatre.justdrive.ca/gallery/02-05-05/slides/IMG_3183.JPG


http://theatre.justdrive.ca/gallery/02-05-05/

Once I have a bit of time I will do a full DIY write up on my site.

Few things, this puppy is heavy!
No way its going anywhere. I'm very pleased with the design.
I may swap the 2x4's for 2x3's for the 2nd post box, but we'll see.
I would like to keep the 2 looking the same.

Cheers.

A.

http://theatre.justdrive.ca/gallery/02-05-05/slides/IMG_3198.JPG

I hit a stud, mounted the frame using 2 1.5" x 1.5" 10" blocks
That should be enough to hold it place.
Drilled a hole in the wall and presto.

I put it in line with the shelf and will do the same for the 2nd frame which go where the mirror is on the left.

Now need to find a nice stain ;)

http://theatre.justdrive.ca/gallery/02-05-05/

Nice job.

To make it official, you need one of my obnoxious blinking GIFs...

http://tinypic.com/1juik6

Hey hey, thanks.

My wife even likes it.

So after I do the 2nd frame, I have 2 more lighting projects.
When I was picking up my glass at the store in the free bin I scored a 5"x38" piece.
I plan on making a "The Blue Room Theatre" sign next out of it with some blue rope light I got free a few years ago, but had no use for. Should look clue, I'll use the same design, but it will be much smaller :)

And for Xmas a sports car friend sent me a really amazing CAD design of my car.
Rather than paying to have it framed I'll do a light frame for it as well.
I figure it has to cost about the same and it will tie nicely with all my other displays.

I hooked up a wireless remote switch so now I can turn the poster off when viewing the movie.

All very cool.

Clarence, thanks for the gif and design tips.

A.

Originally posted by jeeper
NOVUS #2 works really good for polishing out small scratches in plastics.

>> Thanks Steve. Do you use the Novus on your Jeep windows?

> Yep, use it on my CJ-7 windows and also use it to clean/polish pinball playfield parts.

Wow. I ordered a kit on ebay of Novus 1, 2, 3. Washed the winter gunk off of my jeep today and buffed the scratches out of the plastic windows with Novus. Great stuff!

So now for design two...

Front loading with hinge?

A.

Lets keep this baby moving! Its my next project.

Building the 2nd one today.
I want to get my Star Wars poster up.

Then I will stain the two of them at the same time to ensure they are the same tone.

A.

http://theatre.justdrive.ca/gallery/02-12-05/slides/IMG_3235.JPG

http://theatre.justdrive.ca/gallery/02-12-05/

Went well, I should have brought the 2x4's inside, because I think they got damp and warpped a little.

A.

Is that Star Wars poster DS? Original? Looks nice.

Single sided, reprint... :)

Will the backlighting work well with single sided posters or do they really need to be double-sided?

Both posters in my pictures are single sided reprints.

So the answer if, they are white, they look great. I do not plan on buying any other posters for a bit.
But I can only assume singles are fine to work with, you might not get the depth, but who cares.

I showed my wife last night after I finished the 2nd, she loves them. I only wish I had more room so I could keep making new designs. I was looking at my inner box design, for those who like a modern look.

I was thinking of using some aluminum angle iron and doing away with the outer frame.

Could look very slick. Not sure how it would load, but still might be cool.

A.

Did you do either of yours as front loading with hinges? I am thinking about doing that when I do mine.

Yours look really nice. The cool thing is that the Trim and Rosettes you used are the same that are in my house trim currently so it would make for a good match. :)

Shan

I've been thinking about a hinge idea, but just was not sure how I'd keep the poster in place when I was opening and closing the door.

I won't be changing the posters that often so taking the whole set up down is not a big deal for me.

As for the trim, I was not too keen on doing it, but its grown on me. A "touch of class" my wife keeps telling me. I want to design a metal frame :)

A.

I went ahead and ordered one of the front loading poster frames mentioned int he how-to linked in the first post. I am going to use that guys method to make my frame. It looks a little more contemporary....more to my taste. Thanks to all you guys for motivating me to do this. Should be sweet.

Updates:

Use 2x3 for frame instead of 2x4,
real glass (only $14 cut to order at the antique hardware store less than a mile from our house) for front instead of plexiglass,
cord is now hidden by using recessed clock receptacle (on dimmer) behind frame,
I now use 48' ropelight instead of 24',
and I'm ordering a couple of these to ease hanging on my fabric wall
(I need easy removal because one of my frames covers my electrical panel)...
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?&offerings_id=10809&objectgroup_id=74&catid=22&filter=wall%20bracket

I was going to try 48 foot strands when I put mine together but I was afraid the extra heat would build up. Have you noticed any heat problems with yours? How does the extra strand length help the brightness? I assume it makes a big difference?

I went with 24 feet of rope light in mine, both have been performing wonderfully. I can't wait to stain them.

A.

I have not gotten mine started yet. The frames came in this week, but I have not had the chance to get the wood to build the rest of it. Next weekend maybe.

Just finished my first one today. After reading this last night, I could not stand it so I went out to get wood and got her done.

I will post some pics tonight. Turned out pretty good for someone with no woodworking skills at all. :)

Below are some shots of my completed Lightbox. THis is the first of 4.

My basic construction consisted of a frame made of 1x3 1/2 pre-primed board. I mitered the corners and glued them then tacked them with my brad nailer. I then brad nailed in 45 degree corner backing boards made from 1X6 stock. I screwed a sheet of 1/2" particle board inside the frame, with the 45 degree blocks serving as a mount surface. I installed a 48' length of Rope Light purchased from Home depot. On tope, I screwed a front loading fram from http://www.spotlightdisplays.com (this is the one: http://www.spotlightdisplays.com/front_~1.htm). And walla, you have a nice looking Lightbox for less than $100 (the frame was $70).

Here is a pic with the flash:

http://www.shangreer.com/ht_images/poster_day.jpg

And another with the flash and lights off:

http://www.shangreer.com/ht_images/poster_night.jpg

Overall, I am very happy with the way it worked out. There is one or two spots where lights leaks through, but I think I can take care of those with a little caulking, so it should be no problem. In the end, it looks like a fairly expensive lightbox but cost about the price of a good front load frame. It took about 3 hours to build, mainly because of time waiting for paint to dry. Overall, I plan to complete the other three in one day next week.

Thanks again to everyone on this board for the motivation and ideas on how to do this. Now I have something I never really even realized I wanted. :)

Shan

Sweet, nice modern style man.

I have to paint or stain my frame, but I'm waiting till it warms up.

Plus my car restore project is calling my name. So no more wood working this year. Its back to metal :)

A.

Looks real nice Shan. I messed around with these this weekend a little bit. I ended up using 36' of rope light. Can you post a pic of how you arranged the rope lights? I zig zagged mine through the frame, back and forth. Also, did you use a light defuser? With the poster hanging right in front of the lights, temporarily just to get the effect, you can somewhat make out the "path" that I took with the lights. Especially on the white colored posters (Meet the Parents and Saw were the ones I tried, both very white in color). I'm wondering if the diffuser calms this effect down.

Also, can these rope lights be dimmed? I didn't see anything stating otherwise on the packaging.

Thanks for the idea! This is working out much better than I hoped.

AlbanyDan,

To mount the rope lights, I bough a couple extra packs of the Rope Light mounts that come with them. I screwed in 12 along the top and 12 on the bottom, evenly spaced and just zig zagged the rope light up and down.

I am not using a diffuser and I cannot tell where the rope light is. When you held it up, was it against a white background or just held up in the room? It would make a difference. I pained the inside of my frame gloss white. I have a white Titanic poster that I bought. I will try that one in the second frame, which I am building tonight.

The rope lights can be dimmed with any incandescent dimmer, at least the Home Depot ones can.

Post some pics when you get yours done.

Originally posted by AndreGT6
Sweet, nice modern style man.

I have to paint or stain my frame, but I'm waiting till it warms up.

Plus my car restore project is calling my name. So no more wood working this year. Its back to metal :)

A.

Thanks Andre. You and Clarence were the inspiration. :)

Looks nice, Shan.

I suspect you might need a diffuser with a whiter poster, but let us know.

I'll have to bounce credit for the inspiration to Ed Weiland (see his posterbox link in my first thread).

Shan,

I painted the inside of my frame with a silver mettalic paint, hoping to get some reflection and increase the brightness. I then taped the poster (just in the corners with Scotch tape) to the front of the frame. The white posters could show the path of the lights quite well. I am picking up some cheap material from Home Depot tonight that i will attempt to use as a diffuser. Hopefuly this will solve the problem.

One way or the other, I will get it fixed. Once I do, then I'll finish the actual frame that will surround the poster.

When you figure out a solution, please post it here...I will likely have the same problem. Thanks!

Wax paper

Nice thought Andre. Have you tried it?

Nope. My lights are a whole 3 inches away from the poster. So I see only a hint of the rope.

I may try it when I take them down to be stained.

A.

Hmmmm. Wax paper. That is intersting, and I think I'll give it a shot. Was not able to get to HD last night, but will be going tonight. I'll try the wax paper as well. My lights are about 2 inches away from the poster, hopefuly one of the two options will work.

Thanks

Even wide, white paper should be fine. Any kinko's or stationery shop should have this stuff on a 36" wide roll for dirt cheap.

Or a white-plastic kitchen trash bag cut on one side to form a rectangle.

Go to Lowes or HD and get a can of SPRAY Frosting for windows (in the spray paint isle). I sprayed my plexi with a couple of coats and it's fine! :) I am really enjoying all of your efforts. I built the Weiland (sp) frame a couple of years ago. I used the fluorescent lights per his instructions. Still kicking strong after all that time! Good luck to each of you!

I simply used diffusers for fluorescent lights on mine. You'll need two since one is not wide enough though. There are several styles of these, but I just bought one that was inexpensive. I think they were $4-$5 CAN each. They are 4ft by 2 ft.

They were installed in grooves in the wood just like the front glass/plastic.

Be careful since the plastic is a little brittle on these when your cutting and working with them though.

Skippy31

Yep, that's the same diffuser I used (see the first post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4995692#post4995692) in this thread for a picture).

I taped 2 together... worked fine. $4.19

Clarence, how are you handling heat from the 40-foot light strands? I am not sure that it is a problem, but the front of my poster feels a little warm after it has been running for a while. Do I need to put some vents in, or do you think that is OK?

The 48' strands are still in the boxes.

I'm finally about to drywall my new HT, so I haven't played with building my next 2 frames yet.

A few vents couldn't hurt. Maybe with something to prevent light spill.

I used a 48 ft strand in my box and it gets only slightly warm after it's been on several hours. It never even gets warm. Only slightly warm. Those strands only put out about 70 watts and it's spread out over a very large area.

Skippy31

My 48' Hampton Bay "Super Bright" lights say "144 watts - saves 45% more energy than other bulbs".

I can see where 144 watts could heat up the volume, so I'll keep an eye on that and check the temp when I build the next batch.

I am going to do the same...I do not think I will vent them right now. Worst case I can come back and do that later if needed. A few vents along the top, with block foam padding over them should allow the heat to escape, but keep most of the light in...at least that is the hope. :)

Originally posted by Clarence
...and I'm ordering a couple of these to ease hanging on my fabric wall
(I need easy removal because one of my frames covers my electrical panel)...
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?&offerings_id=10809&objectgroup_id=74&catid=22&filter=wall%20bracket

Clarence, it may be a bit late for this info, but FWIW, a very inexpensive way to accomplish the same thing is to rip a scrap piece of 1X4 (or 1X3) in half at a 45 degree angle. Mount one of the ripped pieces to the wall so that the other piece will interlock with it. Then mount the remaining piece to your light box. Makes for a real inexpensive, but sturdy way to temporarily hang something.

If I was doing dry wall at my place, I would sink my poster boxes into the wall :)

A.

Originally posted by Clarence
The 48' strands are still in the boxes.

I'm finally about to drywall my new HT, so I haven't played with building my next 2 frames yet.

A few vents couldn't hurt. Maybe with something to prevent light spill.

As Ridebreck said... a french cleat...

Originally posted by AndreGT6
If I was doing dry wall at my place, I would sink my poster boxes into the wall :)Good thought, but the original motivation for my poster box was to cover my electrical panel (breaker box), so I can't recess it.

But I am using a recessed clock receptacle right next to the breaker box so you won't see the cord.

Yeah I put a hole into the wall to run my cords :) Much to my wife's approval.
But the HT is looking really nice.
I've had a few requests from friends on how I built them. And a few asking if I'd make them one.

Yikes what have I gotten myself into. Its not that bad if you think about it, about 5 hours of work to do one. I'm sure I could do them much quicker with all the pieces pre cut.

A.

Ya Andre, that would be cool. I have drywall and cannot sink them in so I went the route Clarence mentioned. Got the hangers yesterday but do not have them up yet.

Yeah hangers would have been nice.
I had to use 2 2"x2" 10" long blocks to mount my boxes, but I was able to hit the studs then. So I know they are up there good. I just covered the blocks up. Its all good.

I have the lights on a remote clicker so I can turn them off at will. Future plan is for a dimmer, but that requires me to wire, the wireless remote option was easier.

A.

I have the majority of my house automated with X10 and have some dimmers that all of the poster boxes will be on. I have scenes set up so that the deco lighting goes off, the house lights dim to off and the cove lighting Dims down to almost nothing. Pretty good effect except I keep my theater so screwed up wiht upgrades that I have never had a week straight with all the X10 stuff working. :)

I wish I had some of that X10 stuff going. My folks have a system, always liked the dimmer control on the xmas tree.

A.

It is relatively cheap, given the felxibility. I have about $1000 into it and love it. If you go that route be careful about buying the cheap stuff....you get what you pay for. I buy most of my switches from Smarthome or buy the Smarthome brand from Ebay because the quality is so high...comparible to Leviton but cheaper. the only things I buy cheap are the wireless remotes, Lamp Module, PC Interfaces and some of the Appliance Modules.

It makes for a pretty nice setup. Not good for someone who does not want DIY cause it is a PITA to get working right.

Well, I did this this weekend, making three boxes. But I did it slightly differently.

Instead of attaching the moulding to the 2x4 frame and cutting a grove 1/4 inch down the side of the 2x4, I used a 1/2 inch straight router bit to route the groove at the top of the 2x4, so if the poster box was laying on its back, the plexiglass would just lay down on top into the grove instead of sliding in.

Then, I used flat 90 degree angle iron to get all 4 sides of the moulding attached. Then, I connected the moulding frame to the 2x4 frame using two small brass hings at the top. This way, the moulding will open up from the bottom, I remove the plexi and poster, and just pop another in without having to take itoff the wall, or unscrew anything.

I also used some cardboard as the backing, and 48' of rope lights in each.

Of course, I nearly killed myself with a utility knife (razor) doing it, but that is a different story...

My wife has the camera, but when she gets home, I can take a few shots if anyone wants to see...

You can never post too many pics. :)

Okay, here are some pics:
Box #1 containing a too-small one-sided reprint of FOTR. I'm looking for a good original DS.
http://www.davidbroome.com/poster/1.jpg
http://www.davidbroome.com/poster/2.jpg

Boxes 2 and 3 with an original one-sided Lion King and a DS EP III:
http://www.davidbroome.com/poster/3.jpg

Boxes 2 and 3, lit up with the lights off. You can see that the DS poster fairs much better than the single-sided one. Even with a poor picture.
http://www.davidbroome.com/poster/6.jpg

And another with the lights on:
http://www.davidbroome.com/poster/7.jpg

And finally two pictures of the moulding lifted up so you can see how I change posters (when I get some mre, that is):
http://www.davidbroome.com/poster/8.jpg
http://www.davidbroome.com/poster/9.jpg

Moron that I am, I didn't take a closeup of the way I connected the moulding and rosettes. Imagine an L made out of metal, 2 inches on a side. That is what I used...

Very nice, David.

I like your top-router flush-edge for the glass and hinge ideas.

Yes, very nice work.

Thanks! I'll be hanging them tonight using picture frame wire. I hope they fit where I want them to go :D

Be careful with the picture frame wire... mine was a lot heavier than it looked... a couple of 2x4's and 48' of rope light adds up.

It pulled the first "heavy duty hanger" out of the wall. I think I ended up using one rated for 75 lbs.

Thanks for the warning. I had to hang one of my wife's pictures and frames and it was heavier than this, so I should be in good shape (going straight into two studs with 2.5" screws and using the heavy frame wire). So for anybody else that is playing along, consider yourself warned :D

dbroome
looks nice. I haven't been able to get mine finished..and its a good think now I can try you way to change out the posters. Hopefully this weekend I'll start on it...along with my new screen..and the yard work and.........

Nice job guys!

Hey Clarence, Can you put a little bit of your brains in a jar and send it to me? No wait, a little won't be enough for me, darn!

Seriously, you amaze me with your abilities! Quality work all the way!!

WOW
Good Post.

I see most people don't use/prefer flourcent lights. WHY? (I must have missed the reason).

Has anyone ever tried installing BLACKLIGHT flourcent bulbs? I have some cool posters (T3 and SW3 preview posters) that look really cool with blacklights. I'm wondering if the effect would be the same if they were back lit?

Note the Star Wars 3 poster is 2sided...

Has anyone seen/heard of blacklight rope light? Or did I just invent the idea? (Patent Pending :P)

Well, after reading this thread, I decided to build my own poster frame as well, and I must admit, it came out quite nice. I just need to add the trim and it will be 100% complete. Will put hinges on the trim so I can open it from the side and remove the plexiglass when changing the poster. I tried using 3mm glass, but as I was putting it in, it broke in my hand. ($40cdn down the toilet), so decided to use plexiglass. My next poster frame will use tempered glass instead as I think it will look better.

Materials used were:

(2) 1 x 5 x 27 3/8” Poplar
(2) 1 x 5 x 41 7/8” Poplar
(1) 27 1/8 x 41 x40 1/8” Plexiglass
(2) 2’ x 4’ White Diffuser (cut and taped to fit)
(2) 12’ rope lighting
12 mirror plastic holders
2 plastic corner pieces (cut to hold diffuser and poster)
Of course, screws, nails and other little things. Total cost was under $200cdn not including the trim

Will post some pics.

Here are some pics

Another pic

Another one

Last one, geez can someone let me know how I can have the pictures posted in 1 email?

Very nice.

A.

Looks great!

Originally posted by bgarner
Last one, geez can someone let me know how I can have the pictures posted in 1 email? Like this:
1st.jpg (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=5456672&fullpage=1)
2nd.jpg (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=5456679&fullpage=1)
3rd.jpg (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=5456681&fullpage=1)
4th.jpg (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=5456687&fullpage=1)

or better yet...

http://img177.exs.cx/img177/2146/bgarner12ay.th.jpg (http://img177.exs.cx/img177/2146/bgarner12ay.jpg)

http://img49.exs.cx/img49/2926/bgarner21di.th.jpg (http://img49.exs.cx/img49/2926/bgarner21di.jpg)

http://img49.exs.cx/img49/476/bgarner31ze.th.jpg (http://img49.exs.cx/img49/476/bgarner31ze.jpg)

http://img49.exs.cx/img49/4461/bgarner46ww.th.jpg (http://img49.exs.cx/img49/5013/bgarner49lk.jpg)

here is mine.....also ropelight in the back

Clarence;

Built one of these a bit ago only difference was I used rice paper for the diffuser. The paper is used in Japanesse designs works pretty good. I will post pictures when I get back home.

how about using milar insted of foil. it's about 100 X more reflective than tin foil. about $25 for 25' x 4' roll at a hydroponics store

ok not 100 X, but alot mor reflective.

I have a template for a couple Christmas gifts for the SO.

The question is will I be able to find time to blast a couple of these together before then.....


Also, anone tried the led rope or string lights behind the diffuser panels?

Very low cost to operate, no heat at all.

Ok back in action I was editing my server files and did not notice I clipped my url for the theatre page, all is well again. Images showing.

replicant_argent, it does not take long to make the boxes, an afternoon.

I used 2 rope lights behind a clear piece of plexi. The poster diffueses the light.

A.

Anybody try using Electroluminescent Wire rather the the fluor. tubes for lighting?

I think that it could address several issues such as the depth and heat of the frame. Clearance would have to be minimal and with the right driver you can adjust the light intensity.

Cheers,
Chris

Replicant,
I remember someone trying XMas lights and realizing they just weren't bright enough.

ElectroWHATSITS?!? Any word over 17 letters long is out of my lexicon. What is this you speak of?

Does anyone know of Plexiglas ELiT II and Lucite Prismex. I found that these are use for edgelit applications like 2" lightboxes, but that's all I could find.

ElectroWHATSITS?!? Any word over 17 letters long is out of my lexicon. What is this you speak of?

Google it :) El-wire (for short) is basically a neon-like wire that produces light when current is applied. Its used for a variety of items include computer-case mods, auto customization, costuming and much, much more. It produces very little heat, it's fairly low cost and flexibility have a lot of potential for other uses.

If I had a better place to put a light-box up for my 'theater' I'd likely give it a try but am considering trying some type of marquee over the wall. Too many ideas, so little extra funds/time :mad:

I was kind of kidding. I investigated a few lighting options about 6 months ago. I thought this stuff was quite expensive (especially compared to rope light). Ideally, you would probably go with 4 long fluorescent lights (though 3 and even 2 are common). The heat they emit, the wiring, and especially the cost is what has people scattering for other light source options.

I tried a scrap with a circular saw and tape... nope... cracks and shatters.



A common trick for cutting plexi at home is to mound the saw-blade backwards. Have done it a couple of times and works well enough. Its a last resort of the place you buy it from can't cut it for 'ya...

Cheers
CW

took your guys ideas and came up with a different approach. I went to Meyers and bought 3 frames(poster size )before going further you need to keep in mind the different sizes of movie posters available. anyway I made the box cut slots for 2 pieces of pllexi( one clear and one white) see pics in my sig.

Hello from Italy!!

THese are not a backlight posters, but the next one, I'll made with your precious instructions! ;)


Besides, do you like some my works?!?!? :D


THE STAR WARS SAGA
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9681/sasadfstarwarssaga22us.jpg (http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/843/mdltheater9gx.jpg)

LOTR SAGA
http://img333.imageshack.us/img333/3015/2lotrglobale1by.jpg



All logos are property of the respective copyright holder

walk on
sasadf

very nice... are those all brothers in pic or just friends??? My mother's father's family is from Naples. name is NAPOLIELLO....I am named after my great Uncle Tony...keep up the good work.

Very nice indeed. I really love the work and color choices for the SW Saga. The LOTR one is nice too...colors match the theme...parchment look.

Great work!

very nice... are those all brothers in pic or just friends??? My mother's father's family is from Naples. name is NAPOLIELLO....I am named after my great Uncle Tony...keep up the good work.


No, They're only friends


I'm the third starting from the left....

I Live in Frosinone, little city at about 60 miles from Rome....

Thanks for your appreciations...

walk on
sasadf

The LOTR one is nice too...colors match the theme...parchment look.

Great work!

This is another LOTR Plaque, with the italian Posters....

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4476/sda17xw.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sda17xw.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/8205/sda37us.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sda37us.jpg)
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8319/sda44fb.th.jpg (http://img113.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sda44fb.jpg)
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/4918/sda27op.th.jpg (http://img113.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sda27op.jpg)


"All logos are property of the respective copyright holder."
The Files were used only for private and not commercial use-



walk on
sasadf

very nice work there. They would look great when lit up from behind. Very nice layout..

Very cool stuff. It looks fairly straightforward to build it.

What kind of movie poster are you guys using? Are these just standard movie poster (paper) either single sided or double sided or are these the kind made from mylar (plastic of some type)?

Can someone provide links to good website for buying the movie poster or maybe an ebay seller?

Thanks,

MINE are just single sided. One is actually enclosed in plastic. movieposters.com is a good place to start. Also go to ebay and type in "movie posters"

As has been discussed at length, double sided posters are made specifically for lightboxes. You COULD use single sided posters but they aren't as vibrant. If you are going to great lengths (and considerable expense) to make one there is no need to save $2 and not get a sharper looking display. There are many older posters that don't come DS, and I suppose I understand using some of those. Still, stick to DS whenever possible. The only really EXPENSIVE ones out there are Matrix, Fellowship, and Shawshank. Otherwise they are remarkably inexpensive. Let me know if there are any titles you are looking for. Always looking to give a newby a taste of the addiction. Commonly listed under Entertainment memorabilia-Movie memorabilia-posters-originals US. Search for DS. I would expect you would pay at most 1/2 of allposters or movieposters prices.

Thanks for the answers.

Yes, I definitely want to get a poster that looks good when backlit. So you guys are saying that these are just the "paper" movie poster that are double sided. It doesn't have to have a plastic backing like mylar or something. The reason I ask was when I built my mame cabinet, I printed my custom marquee on mylar because it was going to be backlit by a fluorescent light and other people who built their mame cabinet previously had suggested mylar.

These posters are basically used for marketing purposes at theaters to promote their movies. So they print out thousands of them send them to every movie theater in the country to use for a few weeks. It is an expensive endeavor. Sometimes a major blockbuster will come out and the marketing budget will permit special posters. Some will have a lenticular poster (Jurassic Park, etc) or holofoil (Matrix 2 & 3) and a very limited number will have mylar (Charlies Angels 2). Most are just regular poster paper though many have a nice UV coating (Spiderman, Big Fish, etc). The double sided posters have the reverse image on the back side so when the light shines through it is going through the rear image and then the front image so the colors are more pronounced. It works very well. The great thing is that these theaters basically toss all these posters to any high school kid that works there that wants them. So while reprints at allposters are $17 you can easily find originals for $5 on eBay.

Hello everyone! Love all the info on light boxes...it's amazing! I want to build one with piano hinges on the box so it will open like a cabnet door for easy access. Any advise would be great. Any new updates with details would also be great.
Thanks,
Switch King

I would also be interested in any updates to this thread in terms of specs, advice, potential 'gotchas' etc.

Anybody thought about using superbrightleds.com ? I have been checking it out for my lite boxes it will probably be more expensive than rope lights but you can get one controller/transformer for about 35 bucks and run both boxes off of it plus the LEDS I am going to put in my stage area and behind my screen alcove for backlighting and special effects. But with LEDs you dont have the heat issue and they have a long life. I'll post when I start building them. Right now I am so busy with the HT construction and wiring I havent had time to go to the boxes yet, but have some interesting design ideas.

Regarding using LED rope lights. I'll be receiving 30ft from the person selling on E**y in the next week. I can report back how it works and looks overall. I'm not sure if they are 6400deg lights or 4000deg. The seller didn't know which I thought was a bit odd.

Here is my general plan based on what I've read in threads like these. Some are details I've added so I'll let you guys know if they work out.

1. lightbox frame made out of a 3 1/2" decorative moulding. I thought this might be more interesting than looking at a flat surface.
2. light source will be 30ft of led light rope. I've picked up some rope light track at menards to hold it in an organized fashion. My hope is to add this on a dimming circuit that will hold my accent lighting (step lights, wall displays & movie posters).
3. I'll be painting the inside of my box with a silver reflective paint from Hirshfields to help even the look and reflect it out.
4. I bought a deluxe snaplock frame from a reputable internet distributor (star---- cin----.com) and this will secure directly to the lightbox half.
5. lastly, I bought some 'frosting' window glaze plastic to add to the inside plastic sheet to difuse the LED lighting.

I'm trying to keep it simple but I usually end up changing a few things along the way. If you want I can keep you posted.

Grant

I just recieved my string of 30ft of LED rope lights. They work very good on my UPB circuit dimmer so I'll be using these along with the Snaplock Poster Frame from SGCinema. I was able to dim them down to 10% with them only flickering during the fade. The flicker wasn't even very noticable - probably a function of the dimming increments and time duration of my fade more than anything. I have other lights on the circuit so the load isn't as minor as some dedicated dimmer circuits where there has been trouble earlier. I'm excited about these dimmable, easy to mount, very low heat light source.

One issue I'm dealing with is that I went for the deluxe frame with is a bit taller than I had planned on. Its 44x31 on the outside dimensions. My space from chair rail to cornice moulding is 43 1/2 - oh crap. Instead of whining or returning it for the skinny version I'm going to try something against my better judgement. I'm going to cut my lightbox moulding so that it isn't perpendicular to the wall. A 45deg compound miter so that the frame portion touching the wall will be something like 40x27. It will look like its jumping out of the wall. The reason I think this will look cool is that because you see the sides of my lightboxes as you walk into the theater since its on an adjacent door. If I'm able to pull off the fancy cuts I'll post a picture. I'm sure I'll be proud of it - if not, then no picture because it will go in the trash and I will never admit to trying such a foolish thing.

Grant

I'm glad to report my fancy angle cutting went well last night. I've go the frames built up for my two lightboxes.

Here are the first 3 pictures of my project.

Pic 1 is the molding that I have chosen for the lighbox portion.

Since I want to have a 3D effect I will need to use some jigs. I want to have the back (touching the wall) be 27x40 while the front of the lightbox be 30.75x43.75 since the snaplock poster frame is 31x44. Essetially I need to do some routing. Rather than using a router I decided to use my table saw and a dado blade.

Pic 2 shows my jig for cutting the inset for the 1/2 plywood backer. This angle is 54degrees.

Pic 3 shows my jig for cutting the top level for mounting the snaplock poster frame to it. The angle is 36degrees.

I didn't take a picture of me cutting the corners with my compound miter but I essentially put the moulding set at and angle an just cut a 45deg angle. I didn't feel like doing the math and cutting the compound angle in one shot with the piece flat. My saw isn't likely that calibrated anyway.

See next post for more detail.

Grant

Continued;
Pic 4 - shows the side view of my lightbox moulding now.
Pic 5 - here is where the sides come together. Please note that the side facing the floor is the face that the snaplock frame will attach to. The upper side will go to the wall side.
Pic 6 - here is the back now attached.

I used premium PL adhesive + 1" 18awg brad nails with an air nailer to secure the corners and backing. I'll need to leave each set overnight.

Continued on next post.

Grant

Grant, I like your idea about the decorative molding. Is that just crown you used? If not, which wouldn't you use crown? I would think with the right crown width, that if you did built an outside frame and retro fit the bought frame and the light box portion.

Bud

Continued from prior post

pic 7 - shows a new side view with the snaplock frame sitting on top of the new lightbox frame.

Pic 8 - shows a upper view.

So far I'm very happy with the outcome.

Next Steps include;
1. Painting the interior with silver paint
2. Installing lightrope track with 1/2 panhead screws.
3. Cutting a hole in the back for my LED lightrope plug. Its on a dimmable circuit already. The jbox style is flush like one would use with a wall clock.
4. Priming and painting the lightbox wood - I'm going black to match the frame
5. Attach the frame with screws.
6. Add frosted tinted film to the back side of my poster frame plastic.
7. Hang (or secure) and add poster.

I hope to have this done by the end of the weekend along with several other theater odds and ends. My carpet will be installed in 3 weeks and I have to paint my trim, install fake tin ceiling panels (and paint them) and install wallpaper on the upper 1/2 of my walls. Oh ya, tonight I'm going to grout the entrance granite floor. I hate black grout - it is a mess to clean up.

So long,
Grant

Hey Bud, thanks for chiming in - I always like reading your comments.

I looked long and hard at crown trim. I used this as a cornice in the room also.

In the end, I thought I needed more thickness to recess the rear panel. If you think about the angles also the lower angle isn't in the direction I wanted. It runs verticle and therefore to recess the rear panel I would have had to add another piece or start reducing height. It sounded more complicated to me at the time. Going with the piece I did only added one extra cut with the table saw so I didn't think it would add much time.

One thing that is interesting is that my lightbox height is only 2 3/4 inches. I wanted to get less then the standard 4" that seem previlant. This is a risk and I'll have to see if my frosted film diffuses the light well enough. My LED rope is 30ft so it will be spaced quite closely together. Hopefully this will compensate for the reduced spacing to the poster.

Take it easy,
Grant

Grant, thanks for the reply. When I first looked at the frame, I was thinking that the wider part of the lightbox would be against the wall and that the frame for the poster would be inside the frame of the crown. From you last picture, it looks as though the black portion will not be against the wall. Thats where you are installing the poster. Makes sense now. I guess you could do it either way.

Got a few things left in the HT room to do, but I expect to start to build my two lightboxes and ticket window in July.

Bud

Continued from prior posts;

Pic 9 - shows inside of lightbox with silver paint. Outside was primed and painted matte black but you can't see this.

Pic10 - shows the LED rope strung. Its 30ft in that box. My math came out just about right with the pattern ending in the center.

Pic 11 - shows the box lit up. Dimming works just fine.

When I attach the snaplock frame and add diffuser film I'll take more pictures. I'm pretty excited. It slim and well distributed and relatively bright.

Grant

Nice job, Grant. I'm glad to see this thread is still around. I swapped out the poster in mine a few weeks ago:

http://www.newinspirations.com/small_soldiersFIN.jpg

It's one of my youngest son's favorite movies... but you'd have to see my screen and projector to appreciate how appropriate "BIG MOVIE" is in my HT.

I still have a couple of unfinished lightboxes in my closet that I need to finish.

How much were your LED ropes?

The LED rope light is a bit spendy in my opinion but I couldn't find any alternative that could evenly distribute the light, put off little if any heat and could dim with my UPB dimmers. I could have got the per ft cost down if I was willing to buy 500ft but I didn't feel like trying to sell 440ft of it.

I figure my costs will be close to;
Moulding - $26
Plywood - $5
Deluxe Speedlock frame - $90 + shipping
LED lightrope - $70 + shipping
Lightrope channel - $20 (~1.50 for 40inches)
Silver paint - $10
Frosted film - $20

Total = roughly $250 for the first and about $210 for the second.
I think that's a heck of a good deal since I couldn't buy something that met all my criteria.

I had glue, nails, primer and paint so tack on another $15 if you don't have this.

I'm almost done so I should be able to post final pictures after one more trip to HD. I forgot I need a squeege for the film. I sure hope that it adhere's well to the plastic......

I have about 50 DS posters from last Xmas so I can't want to start cycling through them. Can you tell I do my own Xmas shopping???

Take it easy fellow DIY'ers,
Grant

Grant - is the heat concern really that high? I bought a lightbox off eb*y last year that uses 4 flourescents. If I put my hand near the front of the box, I can barely feel any heat. I never felt the back of the box while operating, but my guess is it's low too.

No as far as light difusion, I'd ask for a bit more, but I think that might be due to the white plexi sheet that fits between the poster and the light. I'd be interested to see how your's comes out.

Heat could be an issue if you are showing an expensive poster. Your right, it could neglegible in many situations.

Two other reasons for using LED light ropes were (1) my UPB dimmers wouldn't work with flourescent balasts (2) I wanted to reduce the depth.

I'll have to consider white plexiglass if my frosted film doesn't work out. I don't know why that didn't occur to me to use. Oh well, I know where to get film, I don't know where to find a 29x42" sheet of white plexiglass.

Grant

I finished my lightbox about a week ago. I have so many other theater related projects going on I'm amazed I finished one. Here's the final steps. I mounted my deluxe snaplock frame (from St..gate Cinema) to my wooden shell and found three things I needed to fix and one I was pleasently surprised by.

I needed to fix -
(1) the sides of the snaplock frame have about 1/4" of bare aluminum showing. This can't be seen headon but since I come into my room walking past the adjacent wall I will be able to see this clearly. With a little coaxing I snapped off the 'snap' hinges and totally disassemble the frame. A little spray paint and it looked perfect.
(2) I noticed that even with my perfectly mitered box I had some light escaping. Jk there. I found some black caulk at HD and when reinstalling the snaplock frame I put a bead of black silicone to bond the the frame to the box.
(3) Lastly, I thought the plexiglass sent could stand a little more rigidity. I decided to spend $30 more and replaced the rear plexi with a sheet of 1/8" acrylic. This way my kids (or the neighbor kids) won't be able to 'push in' the poster if they were to touch it or have something soft hit it? Don't ask me what - I've seen circumstances that I never would have thought possible. Now I just expect the worst - or at least the unbelievable.

The good thing I found was that with so many LED lights in the box (30ft), I don't need any diffusion. This surprised me because this box is a little over 2 1/2" deep. Perhaps different posters will show differently but the few that I've tried don't show individual brightspots. If I get dissatisfied I'll add the tinting - its a 10 minute job.

Regarding the LED dimming - my UPB dimmer can take it way down to about 10% no problem. I can notice the dimming steps when it gets much lower than 40%. After playing with it for some time, I keep it 100% for starters and then go down to about 60% during movies. I have this circuit shared with my step lights so this is a compromise for both. The step lights become useless below 50%.

If you have any questions or comments please let me see them. I think my next side project may be a DIY poker table. Those fellows posting in the game room equipment area are really making some nice looking tables.

I'm really itching to show everyone the rest of the theater but I'd rather post it all when its complete. It really has a lot of detail like this poster box that really gives it theater charm. Tonight I just installed my custom made brass Exit and Restroom signs. I attached a teaser - it shows my faux tin ceiling, 1930's sconce, textured wall paper and my lower 3ft not yet finished. This is just too much fun.

Grant

Grant-

Are you sure these are LEDs in the lightropes? Most likely they are very small incandescent lamps, otherwise you wouldn't be able to dim them with your UPB.

Don

Good question, the short amount of time I looked at them, they appeared to be LED's with resistors. They need to be cut every 3ft and they do dim - not so much in the 70-100% but below 50% its quite noticable. I'll check into the guy I bought it from on Ebay. If he's passing standard rope light off as LED than he owes me an explaination. Its interesting because I see some sites say it can't be dimmed and others stating that their's can be. I'll post back when I find out more.

Grant

very nice work Grant, looks excellent!

I've started working on my three light boxes finally! I've tried to keep all my progress stuff in my construction thread, but plan on documenting everything in detail here upon completion as well.

In the meanwhile, here is a link to anyone who may be interested:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9153276&&#post9153276

I thought I'd be done by now, but I'm progressing and may be done by the weekend.

Bud

Hey Bud,
I see your well on your way to building yourself some awesome lightboxes.

Just a few things I've learned along the way to possibly help.

1) allthough the LED light ropes I've had can dim, I agree with all those well informed people that recommended against it. I think dimming them shortens their life dramatically. I ended up going to Costco and replacing both lightropes due to some LED failures. I attribute this to the dimming. I changed my settings on my UPB dimmer to either be on or off and now haven't had any problems. By the way - Costco had 30ft at $25 which is the cheapest I've seen by a long shot.

2) I found out that there are at least two types of LED rope lights out there. One in which has the LED's pointing outward and the other I've seen where the LED's point in line with the rope. The 2nd is the best in my opinion because the bright spots caused by the outward pointing LED's are very hard to overcome.

3) if you need more diffusion, one more thing I did was get a thin piece of plastic film and take some sandpaper to it. I put this directly over the lightrope in order to diffuse the light even more prior to the Gila frosting I put on the back of my 1/8" plexiglass.

4) check ebay and other DS poster sellers regularly - the new movie posters go relatively cheap but trying to find an older ones go up in cost dramatically.

Man, the poster frames are fun. I hope you enjoy having them as much as me. I bought another 25 posters this winter which bring my selection up close to 100. I bought a box of 50 packing tubes to put 2 or 3 same genre posters in a tube for storage. Keeps things nice and organized.

Enjoy!
Grant

Grant,
What posters are you having problems finding cheap? I guess I paid a little for my Christmas Vacation but I have gotten LOTR (SEVERAL for~$12), Gladiator ($12)and even Matrix ($29 go me!!!) posters for pretty cheap. Just have patience. You'll find it. If there is anything you are looking for let me know. I have a lot of extras. I thought I would be switching them out more than I am.

If you are going to the trouble of a lightbox you HAVE to get DS posters. I wish my pics would have turned out better but it make a SIGNIFICANT difference.

Grant,

Thanks! When I bought my rope light for the theater, I actually bought one of those 150 foot rolls of frosted white. I check late last night and found I had plenty left. It's 1/2 inch, versus the 3/8 they sell at HD. I almost bought some there yesterday, but glad I didn't. I even had a bunch of track left for it. I'm even considering putting blue rope light in the HT room, so if I have to, I'll tap that as well, but unlikely. If these don't work out, I can always swap them out I suppose.

Front loading frames would have been ideal, but these worked out just fine. Take a few minutes to swap out the posters, but no big deal. Overall, I'm pretty happy (and excited) about the design itself. It's taken longer than expected to make them, but I'm almost there. Good tip on the diffuser.

I don't expect to be changing out posters too often, but you never know. I'll keep an eye out on eBay for stuff though.

Where are you with your theater now?

Bud

Here comes my light box build. I built three of them, using what I call a board game box concept (think of a monopoly box). First, the materials:

Poster Frames (33.00 ea. x 3): 99.00
80 linear feet of 1x3" Poplar (@ 0.89 lf) for framing: 71.20
1.5" Corner braces (3 @ 1.89): 5.67
1" Corner brace (5 @ 1.89): 9.45
2" Deck screws (1 lb): 6.87
1/2" zinc wood screws (4@ 0.97): 3.96
High gloss white paint (1 qt): 7.88
Flat black paint (1 qt): 7.88
Semi-gloss black spray paint (2 cans @ 2.97):5.94
27.125x47.125" Milky White custom cute plexiglass: 30.00
90' Frosted white 1/2" rope light(had this leftover from HT room): ~60.00
1/2" rope light track (6 48" tracks @ 2.00): 12.00
1 4x8' piece of Bead board: ~18.00
1/2" x 76' Scotch double sided tape (3 @ ~4.00): 12.00

I broke three pieces of plexiglass, so I went and ordered custom cut pieces of "Milky White" 1/8" plexiglass from Professional Plastics (http://www.professionalplastics.com) online. I'm done messing around with this crap. I got pieces 27.125 x 40.125 (+/- .062 tolerance) and I'm sure they'll be perfect at 30.00 each. Here is the order form:
http://www.professionalplastics.com...4/prrfnbr/85259

I decided to buy the poster frames instead of making them since they were cheap. Ordered three poster frames from Frame USA (frameusa.com) that I'll use as the frame portion of my lightbox. Frame USA has some great prices, but you need to order at least 50.00 worth of stuff and if you order less than 100.00, they charge you 15.00 as a surcharge. I went with the Corporate Wide style. Thanks to jeffthx for recommended these in another thread.
http://frameusa.com/corpwide.htm

Bud

So my board game box concept is this. I have an inner box and an outer box. The inner box houses the rope light. The outer box has the frame attached and clips over the inner box. This allows me to pull it off and change the poster from the back.

Design concept:
http://images20.fotki.com/v373/photos/6/649633/3813965/posterbox-vi.jpg

Frames arrived:
http://images14.fotki.com/v371/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2074-vi.jpg

To get an idea of the size of the box I needed, I used the very inside of the frame as a reference for the exact measures of the inner box. I used the outside of the frame for the outside measurements of the outer box.
http://images20.fotki.com/v373/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2085-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v368/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2086-vi.jpg

So here is a shot to show both boxes. Notice there is a little gap, which will allow a few things. First, it allows expansion and contraction. Second, if the boxes were two close together, you'd have a difficult time getting the boxes separated to change posters.
http://images20.fotki.com/v368/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2087-vi.jpg

Bud

I ripped down all the inner pieces about 3/8 of an inch narrower than the outer boxes. This will allow me to use a backer to firm up the box and allow me to attached the rope light to. I was going to use originally use 1/4 ply for the back, but then when looking for a diffuser, ran into some white bead board. I bought a 4x8 sheet, which will allow me to get three pieces out of for my three light boxes. Also, since its white, I won't have to paint it either. Mounting support will come from the extra piece of wood across the back (see original design a few posts up).
http://images20.fotki.com/v373/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2089-vi.jpg

I built my inner boxes and outer boxes. I countersunk the holes for 1 5/8 deck screws, glued and screwed the inner boxes together. Pretty solid and surprisingly light. For the outer boxes, I used brads and glue. I added some "L" brackets later. I also cut the bead board to size used 1/2" staples and glue for that. I then filled holes on the outer boxes and sanded everything down.

http://images20.fotki.com/v367/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2098-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v369/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2100-vi.jpg

Shot of the countersunk holes and support braces.
http://images20.fotki.com/v364/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2105-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v366/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2104-vi.jpg

Bud

Here's a shot with the inner box and outer box laying on the frame itself.

http://images18.fotki.com/v375/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2101-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v373/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2102-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v364/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2103-vi.jpg

Bud

Used black semi-gloss, which matches the frames nicely and high gloss white latex paint for the boxes.
http://images18.fotki.com/v375/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2119-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v364/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2120-vi.jpg

Bud

Got my "L" brackets installed and glued up the frame/outer box. I used 1" "L" brackets to also secure the frame to the box. I used #6 1/2" zinc screws on the corners with 1 1/2" "L" brackets.
http://images14.fotki.com/v363/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2121-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v366/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2122-vi.jpg

Bud

I had to use a sharpie on the edge of the frame since it was slightly beveled. One the two piece come together, it there was any slight gap, you could see the raw frame.
http://images18.fotki.com/v375/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2126-vi.jpg

I went ahead and used the screws that came with the 1" brackets to attach the frame to the outer box once the glue had enough time to set. I used two brackets on the sides and one on the ends. To ensure I didn't drill through the frames, I used a small finishing nail as a drill bit and made sure the length was only as long as it needed to be.
http://images18.fotki.com/v375/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2127-vi.jpg
http://images14.fotki.com/v363/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2125-vi.jpg

So here is the first box with the frame attached. I put one of the inner boxes underneath to test fit it, so we're go to go.
http://images9.fotki.com/v189/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2123-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v369/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2124-vi.jpg

Bud

All three outer boxes/frames are complete... glued and attached together. I went ahead and mounted the inner boxes to the walls. I didn't use the Hangmans that I was originally going to use, I went ahead and put screws through the supports and boxes into the studs. I've very happy how they turned out. To me, they look store bought (and they are partially). Next up is to install the rope light.

Interesting thing and small oversight on my part when I put in the outlets for the boxes... all three weren't centered or even at the same height. This made it a little more complicated, since my plans were to center the box on the wall and wanted them to be at a uniform height. My plans were to cut out the area on the back panel where the outlet was. Not a big deal, just took some measuring, remeasuring and a little math to make sure the inner boxes were centered and at the right height before cutting the holes in the back of the boxes.

The outer boxes fit great and are really solid. I don't think there is a need for securing the inner and out boxes together. You'd have to really pull them off, hitting them sideways won't do much.

http://images18.fotki.com/v375/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2129-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v375/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2128-vi.jpg

Here are few shots after the rope light is installed. I had originally purchase the rope light for the HT room and bought a 150 foot roll from Novelty Lights (https://ssl.adhost.com/noveltylights/merchant.cfm?pid=245&step=4). I had six pieces of 48" track left (I have the clips as well, but didn't use them), so that's two tracks per box I could use without having to buy more. I bought these at Novelty Lights as well (https://ssl.adhost.com/noveltylights/merchant.cfm?pid=49&step=4). I just cut the track down into 4" pieces and used double sided tape to adhere them to the box. I only used the track pieces on the top and bottom of the box, prior to making the "turn" and on the ends. Works well. I think I need about 3 more rolls of the tape though.

The first shot is with the flash on, the other is with it off.
http://images18.fotki.com/v376/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2144-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v374/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2145-vi.jpg

I used about 30 feet. This stuff can be cut every 18 inches. I still need to get that cord out of the way.

Bud

Here's a close up of the tracks I used. I cut them down in small sections and that's all thats required to hold each section. One on top, one on the bottom.
http://images20.fotki.com/v368/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2148-vi.jpg

EDIT on 3-6-09: FWIW, after the light rope is on for some time, the smaller pieces of track tend to bend and pull off, so if I were to do these again with rope light, I'd probably use longer sections of track.

Closeup installation pictures below. I think 30 feet works well, but can't say until I get the diffusers.
http://images18.fotki.com/v376/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2150-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v376/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2149-vi.jpg

Bud

They're not quite done yet. I'm now waiting on my diffusers, but here are a few shots anyway. When the diffusers come, I'll post pictures then.

http://images14.fotki.com/v363/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2134-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v373/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2135-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v367/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2136-vi.jpg

Bud

I think I've in about 280.00 for all the materials to build the three light boxes.This doesn't include the cost of the broken plexiglass and the 90 feet of rope light I already had. So that's about 94.00 each. Not bad.

The cheapest light boxes I've seen are on eBay from a store called River City Theaters. Starting bid is 205.00 (plus 60.00 to ship), not sure what the actual ones would go for. That's not bad really if you can get them for that. Granted 3 @ 205.00 = 615.00 plus 180.00 shipping is 795.00 versus 280.00...

Bud

Hey Bud,

Awesome Job on the lightboxes. They look very professionally built. I don't think mine had quite the fit and finish you accomplished but luckily most people just look at the posters when they are lit.

When you get the milky white plexiglass what are you going to use to secure them to hold the posters in place? Framing tacks or some other means? Is it a little tricky working with posters that come fresh from being rolled up? It helps with mine to have two sets of hands when installing new posters.

Great Pictures and Detail - I'm sure others will follow your thoughtful design!

Grant

PS> I finally posted my finished theater writeup, pictures and gear list. Thanks for giving me the nudge. Let me know what you think.

Grant, Thanks.

I plan on replacing the cardboard backing in the poster frames now with the plexi (plexi sandwich). There are these black metal tabs that hold the backing in place now. Since I don't plan on replacing the poster too frequently (one or twice a year maybe), I'l use a few small pieces of hidden tape on the from piece of the plexi to ensure there is no slippage.

As far as the new rolled up posters are concerned, I unrolled them and left them in the bar a few days with some heavy bar glasses on them. After about a day, they were pretty flat.

Great news on the theater, will go check it out now.

Bud

Also, I wanted to let you guys know I discovered that Rustoleum makes a silver metallic paint (http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=42&SBL=1) as well as a frosted glass paint (http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=38&SBL=1) for windows. The metallic should work well for behind the rope light. It looks to be really shiny. The frosted stuff would work well as a diffuser. Both are like 4.00 each at HD.

Bud

Look forward to your final pics when you get the diffuser in place - great design!

Bud,

I used the frost paint on my panel. It was difficult to get even. It also took many coats.

Randy,

I figured I'd stick that out as an alternative. Considering you have to cut the plexi to start with, I like my option better... buy the damn frosted stuff custom cut. Heck of a lot easier. I may try the paint with a mylar box since I have "extra" plexi now laying around. May even try the metallic stuff. I'll post back here if I do.

Bud

Look forward to your final pics when you get the diffuser in place - great design!

Thanks. Hopefully it'll only be a week or so. Got my fingers crossed.

Bud

Any updates chinadog?

Not much of an update. I emailed Professional Plastics to get a status since my account says "waiting to ship". They says it takes 5-7 business days to ship an order and I ordered on 12/29, but with the holidays. Worst case is it shipped today based on that logic. If the status doesn't change tomorrow, I'll follow-up with them.

Bud

Bud - do think the frosted rope lights make a big difference? Let us know once you get your diffusers.

Will do. They just shipped today, hopefully soon. My guess with the diffusers, it shouldn't make any difference. It might help with hot spots though.

EDIT: Diffusers are due to arrive on the 18th.

Bud

So the "milky white" plexi came today. Packaged well and in good shape. He's how it was delivered:
http://images39.fotki.com/v1287/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2186-vi.jpg

An each individual piece looked like a piece of heavy cardboard. Both sides were covered:
http://images20.fotki.com/v385/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2187-vi.jpg
http://images14.fotki.com/v377/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2188-vi.jpg

Bud

It was hard to tell what this stuff looked like until you got both sides of paper off. It was a pain in the butt, but wasn't too bad. Here is what it looks like naked:
http://images14.fotki.com/v377/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2189-vi.jpg

Here's a closer shot of how opaque it is:
http://images39.fotki.com/v1293/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2190-vi.jpg

It's pretty thick too. I ordered 1/8" (0.125) thick, which was thicker than I expected, but worked out well, since it'll give the poster a nice firm backing. Hard to tell from this shot how thick it is.
http://images14.fotki.com/v378/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2192-vi.jpg

Bud

This is the exact order from Professional Plastics: (SACR.1252447E) .125 THICK WHT #2447 EXTRUDED ACRYLIC - 40.125 x 27.125 @+/- 0.062

As you can see, I order 40 1/8" x 27 1/8" +/- 1/16". Well, the fit was perfect. Too perfect in fact. Because of the thickness, I had to pull off one side of my "L" brackets on the top and bottom because the overhung the inside of frame just a little. No big deal. In fact, I'm still not convinced I need them since I glued up everything. He's what I'm talking about.
http://images14.fotki.com/v377/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2184-vi.jpg

Bud

So here is what the diffuser looks like installed from the back:
http://images14.fotki.com/v378/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2182-vi.jpg

Bud

Here is what they look like lit up. This was with no flash obviously. They're actually brighter than expected, although you can't tell by these photos. The darker posters look really dark in these shots:

http://images41.fotki.com/v1265/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2185-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v384/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2194-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v384/photos/6/649633/3813965/100_2195-vi.jpg

The pictures don't do them justice. I'm pretty happy how they came out.

Bud

Bud - They look great! Did you turn them on without the diffuser? Do you like them better now that you have the diffuser?

Bud - They look great! Did you turn them on without the diffuser? Do you like them better now that you have the diffuser?

No, I didn't have any extra clear plexiglass to hold the poster in place. I guess I could have just taped it and put it up without the diffuser, but I waited so long to get the damn plexi, I wanted to get it done. I'm very happy with the results. They look great.

Bud

This looks like a fun project that I may give a try. Any idea where I can get Scarface and Star Wars double sided posters? I'm going to try and condense the instructions in this thread into a nice easy to follow guide with supply list.

I bought mine here:

http://movieposter.com/

Bud

Cool website. I can't believe there isnt a DS Scarface poster. The DS Star Wars is $75!
I hope you don't mind if I attempt to put together something to follow based on your work.

Not at all, just make sure to post your improvements! A lot of folks get posters from ebay. Allposters.com is another good alternative.

Bud

I bought my DS Star Wars for $12 or something. 75 is way over the top. DS posters started in 89 so unless the movie was re-released (like Star Wars) there likely won't be a DS poster. DS posters are specially designed for theaters and are very rarely made for the secondary market. So Jaws, Scarface, Indiana Jones, etc don't have DS posters.

chinadog,

some of the other DIY poster light boxes suggest maintaining a gap between the diffuser and front glass to stop rippling. Have you experienced any problems? I had an MRI scan this year and fancy displaying that (it's pretty freaky to see your back in that sort of detail :eek: ) and was planning to sandwich between a pane of plexiglass as a diffuser and a mount using an existing frame and then doing your box trick to give ready access. I hope this will give enough spaace for the scan to 'breathe' and not end up rippling. I can hardly go back for another one :D. Thoughts/comments?

TIA David

So far, so good here. I think that the little tabs put enough even pressure on the plexi to hold things in place. Maybe there is some static electricity in play here too, dunno, but so far they look great to me.

The only one thing I might change out is the tracks for the ropelight. Works well, but the flex in bends in the rope light (from being wrapped around a spool) tend to change when the light is on for a long time or off for a long time. Hard to explain. The issue is when the plastic in the rope light cools, it tries to return to its bent shape and pulls the small piece of track off with it. This is easily resolve by putting another piece of track in place to secure it. I skimped on the track because I wanted to use what I had on hand and not order more. I plan on switching to blue rope light for the HT room and when I do so I'll order some more track. This happened in maybe two places though. Another option may be to use "twisties" like you see in boxes for kids toys. Drill two small holes on either side in places around the rope light, then use a twisty to tie it down.

Keep in mind that if you change out posters frequently to look for a front loading frame, it'll still be easier than changing them out from the back. I haven't changed the posters out yet since they've been in there, but I didn't really intend to either.

Bud

At one time I had the name of a company that would print scans of posters to transparencies. I got it from the forum but have since midplaced it. I would like to have backlit posters but older films that can't be obtained as double sided. They had told me if I send them a high res JPEG they would print any size transparency I wanted. Do you guys know of this company?

Art

I haven't done this yet myself, but I remember reading that some other members had put up single sided posters in their lightboxes and thought they looked pretty good. Something you might want to try before tracking down the transparency company.

Art

There's a thread back in the archives where you were asking about DS posters from old films. Maybe the link you are searching for is there.

http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=490978&highlight=poster

Tom

I haven't done this yet myself, but I remember reading that some other members had put up single sided posters in their lightboxes and thought they looked pretty good. Something you might want to try before tracking down the transparency company.
I have singel sided posters with ropelights in my box(now) and also have a diffuser panel between the poster and the lights with about a 1/2 inch between the front glass. see my sig for pics and how I made my boxes.

Art,
I have Gone with the wind, Wizard of Oz, Spartacus DS posters I would give you for next to nothing. My favorite one is Vertigo (Saul Bass art). I have tried to buy it a few times but it always goes for just a little more than I bid. Last one I remember went for ~70. They don't come up much though and I'm not too patient. The Rear Window DS is weird. It has a very modern style to it and goes for a little less. Let us know how the Lexan thing works. I have several ideas if it turns out. Seems to me there might have been a Metropolis one out there but I can't swear to it.

Art

There's a thread back in the archives where you were asking about DS posters from old films. Maybe the link you are searching for is there.

http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=490978&highlight=poster

Tom


You da man Tom ! That's it ! :)

Art

Art,
I have Gone with the wind, Wizard of Oz, Spartacus DS posters I would give you for next to nothing. My favorite one is Vertigo (Saul Bass art). I have tried to buy it a few times but it always goes for just a little more than I bid. Last one I remember went for ~70. They don't come up much though and I'm not too patient. The Rear Window DS is weird. It has a very modern style to it and goes for a little less. Let us know how the Lexan thing works. I have several ideas if it turns out. Seems to me there might have been a Metropolis one out there but I can't swear to it.

Thanks! The Metropolis and perhaps 2001 ASO with the ship coming out of the space station are the ones I want to do since I really only have room for two posters after I put the ticket window in.

Art

I just finished up 2 frames. I copied chinadog's design. They came out GREAT! Thanks for the ideas.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/auburnu008/IMG_2069.jpg

Looks great! So where did you get the frames, plexigless, etc? Do tell. Any design changes?

Bud

Looks great! So where did you get the frames, plexigless, etc? Do tell. Any design changes?

Bud

Man, I copied your design 100%. I got the exact frames from frameusa, used all the exact same materials. The only thing I did differently was I bought 2 cheap poster frames from frameusa. They were $20 and I needed a filler to get the order over $100. I took the plexi out of the cheap poster frames and kept both sides of the plastic on them and used each peice as the defuser. It worked out well. Other than that, the design is identical. Thanks very much for the DIY guide. The frames are alot brighter than the pics show up as.
Thanks again!

Thanks for all of the info, Im going to start my basement/theater soon, and these will be on the list.

I have a good 2 dozen DS posters already. http://www.moviemarket.co.uk had a sale a few months back, clearenced out TONS AND I MEAN TONS of orig DS posters for $1.99 each. (in the top right corner, you can change the currency to american $$s) Shipping was only $10 for the huge roll of posters.

ART,

THERE ARE DEFINITELY DS 2001 POSTERS OUT THERE. They are 40-50 but would still be less than making your own. I thought they looked pretty sharp.

hi,

this project is good for photo print on duratrans or backlite?
tnx

Mave76,

Not sure what exactly what duratrans is, these are backlit posters. I looked at the link here:

http://www.blueriverdigital.com/large_format/duratrans.asp?source=gooaw&camp=10&ag=2&ad=B&gclid=CO-W-s3txJECFQFflwodLX0kDQ

and would think it would be fine, but depends on how much light is required to disaply.

Haven't been in this thread in some time, was tracking something down for someone else and saw your post.

Bud

Duratrans is the film like transparency image that the pros use to make most signage you see in movie theaters etc that is back lit, it is well known for its brilliant colors and clear imagery. Both my sisters are in the business in Hollywood and one of them is having her company make the duratrans imagery for my StarGate Cinema Marquee for over my door way. But I have been waiting for the finished product for about 3 months now. Hope it gets done before the world comes to an end, lol. What do ya want for free.

Nick, pretty funny. Would like to see that when you do finally get it. Post a picture if you can.

Bud

All,
Fantasic creativity here. Very cool stuff. Thanks chinadog et al for posting and answering questions..

Im a novice at wood work so Im looking for the easiest way to convert something premade (shadowbox) into a lightbox....

Have a look here
http://frameusa.com/shadshow.htm

There are 30x40 and 24x36 sizes. The former is larger than the std 27x40 and the latter fits another std poster size...

I am looking for design ideas as to how to

1) Mount and hold a diffuser in place
2) Place the poster

Im not looking for a perfect solution, just one that works.

Remember all these shadowboxes open from the REAR!

Some diagrams will be very useful.

Get your creative juices flowing.... Thanks again for reading & replying

I put together a little how to for the poster boxes I made, but I don't think they came out nearly as nice as some in these posts. You can see the tutorial on my website in my signature. It's under How to.

Good Howto. but Im specifically looking at moding an existing shadowbox..

The British Quad is 40X30. There are a lot of DS quads available on eBay, etc. That would be by far the cleanest way of doing this. I actually almost got one at Hobby Lobby that was 50% off to do just that. 24X36 is replica size and you won't be able to get DS posters of that size.

coolhand
it is my understanding that i dont need a DS (double side) poster to get a backlit effect. is this true ?

You can use SS posters, although people would argue that don't look as rich as the DS ones. I have used only DS ones.

Bud

Thanks Chinadog. Just wondering if anyone has done any visual comparisons between SS and DS posters ?

I have definately seen some but that was before I got my lightbox a year and a half ago and I don't recall where. I will say this: A lot of people around here have said DS isn't necessary and that SS work; However, if you saw the two next to one another you wouldn't have any SS displayed. The SS just looked washed out. The colors aren't nearly as vibrant.

I'm new here but I just purchased 2 ds originals from a guy on ebay. One is austin powers and the other steel magnolia. I can't wait to start a light box sometime soon! Some of the things you guys have done from what I've looked at are awesome.

You guys are fin amazing with the **** you come up with. You are also a bunch of pains in the ass. Now i have another to o hting in my theater!!!:)

Hey all,

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but reading through this has really got me thinking. I'm wondering if anyone has tried to make a LED panel for the back-light? I was thinking that if you used some white pegboard from HD you could easily wire up an array of LEDs to give a nice uniform light.

I've not done any projects with LEDs so trying to figure out the ideal spacing and type of LED is an issue. The cheaper ones I find on ebay have about a 20 degree light output. I've found others that have a larger 100+ degree but they seem to cost a bit more but if overlapped should produce a more even light.

So has anyone tried this or have suggestions.

I tackled making a light box this past week.

I mainly used Clarence's design with a few changes, not necessarily for the better.

I used 1x3's for the frame. That seemed to work fine.

I wanted a narrower picture frame look so I opted for a different trim then the fluted trim. It all seemed to be fine until I went to put the removable side in place and was unable to line it up with the two pieces of plexiglass due to the mitered corners on the trim being in the way.

I ended up having to trim off part of the mitered trim and attached it to the removable side so I could easily slide the removable side on.

Overall I am very happy with the final result.

http://www.kevinandjudy.com/wire/poster.gif

With people having so many posters and only so much wall space, how do people store the posters that are not in the lightbox? This was one of those thoughts and poked into my brain at 3am that is all....

I believe anywhere you have a flat place to lay them. I.e. you could place them under a bed between plexi, etc.

If they are collector grade posters be sure to separate the posters with acid free materials for longevity. Not all plastics are safe for long term contact with your collectibles.

Hey all,

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but reading through this has really got me thinking. I'm wondering if anyone has tried to make a LED panel for the back-light? I was thinking that if you used some white pegboard from HD you could easily wire up an array of LEDs to give a nice uniform light.

I've not done any projects with LEDs so trying to figure out the ideal spacing and type of LED is an issue. The cheaper ones I find on ebay have about a 20 degree light output. I've found others that have a larger 100+ degree but they seem to cost a bit more but if overlapped should produce a more even light.

So has anyone tried this or have suggestions.



Hi,

I have just completed an edge-lit LED poster case for our theaters cafe. It isn't back-lit in the traditional sense, and needs a specially etched acrylic board to distrubute the light from each side to the center but I think it works very well.

Rather than take up a lot of space with a picture here, please click on the link below in my signature block to see a picture I just this moment posted in the Members Gallery, (edit: second picture now after theater picture I posted subsequently, which is now first). To get an idea of the light output, the picture was taken at mid-day without lights or flash.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

Mark, nice work. On the components if I understand your notes you bought a snap frame edge lit poster case then took the components out and put in a nicer looking wood frame. Care to share your source for the original frame? I'm going to be building another poster case and have an interest. As for taking up space with pictures, that is what these threads are all about so post away.

Hi,

I have just completed an edge-lit LED poster case for our theaters cafe. It isn't back-lit in the traditional sense, and needs a specially etched acrylic board to distrubute the light from each side to the center but I think it works very well.

Rather than take up a lot of space with a picture here, please click on the link below in my signature block to see a picture I just this moment posted in the Members Gallery. To get an idea of the light output, the picture was taken at mid-day without lights or flash.

Thanks for looking,

Mark
That came out very nice!
Can you share on how you built it?

-t

Mark, nice work. On the components if I understand your notes you bought a snap frame edge lit poster case then took the components out and put in a nicer looking wood frame. Care to share your source for the original frame? I'm going to be building another poster case and have an interest. As for taking up space with pictures, that is what these threads are all about so post away.

Thank you for your kind words I purchased the snap frame with LED edge lit board from http://www.cinemabuilder.com/products/lighted-marquee/LED-postercase.asp. I had been looking at $800+ frames and decided I could build one for a whole lot less, just as all you have thought and done. The problem with my solution was that to get the kind of lighting I was looking for, I needed to buy the technology as I had not been able to find the parts anywhere. So, $400 later, and with lots of oak from HomeDepot, I have my poster case.


"That came out very nice!
Can you share on how you built it?"
-t

Technoguy,

Thank you for your comments. I typically don't take pictures as I build, which I'm sorry to say, doesn't help anyone a bit. But essentially, I started with the oak exterior surrounding a 2 x 4 frame the same size as the edge lit acrylic board, about 28 1/2 x 40. The LED light strips take up about 3/4" on each side of the 27 x 40 acrylic board. I needed the depth of the 3 1/2" - 2 x 4 to accomdate the brass tubing coming in from the top. This positioned the tubing just a little off center, (front to back) toward the rear. If you don't need the brass tubing, (intend to mount the box on the wall), you could use 2 x 3s or even 2 x 2s. What you need is the 1 1/2" lip inside the oak case, on which to lay the LED acrylic board. This thing requires NO back to it so it could turn out to be a really thin poster box if you want or need it that way.

The rest is just a series of 3/4" oak strips and shoe mold that hold the acrylic board and poster in place. PM me if you want details on the strips. The acrylic board is held permanently in place by the outermost left and right oak strips. The upper and lower oak stips, inner left and inner right oak shoe mold hold the poster and thin acrylic cover sheet in place You have to select really straight pieces of oak for these parts.

Oh, the brass tubing and flanges are bar rail component parts.

mark

Man I hate looking at everyone's pictures. I want a theater room sooooo badddd....

If someone is still interested in my homeworks,

you can go here ;) (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1111639)

Walk on
SasaDF

Hi all,

I know I am hopelessly late to this discussion, and I really don't know if anyone is interested anymore, but my little company is manufacturing pretty cheap backlit inkjets... They're different from duratrans in that the duratrans is produced through a photographic lightjet process and ours are done through inkjet printing. Anyway, our prints look great and are pretty cheap :) so if you're interested, check it out at backlitprint.com (http://www.backlitprint.com) We can send you a free sample too, just email us at info at backlitprint. Thanks!