Hey folks, I love the outdoor theater! So much fun to get together with friends and neighbors and watch a movie outside and under the stars. I'll post some pics here later.

I'm happy to have this new section here on the forum, and look forward to seeing all your outdoor theaters! :)


I know that plenty of discussion is had about sound and picture quality. For me, I want as good as I can, so my setup has full 5.1 (yep even the LFE is hooked up) and I'm using my AE-900U for video. The screen is a full 16x9 foot screen. :)



(ETA: I added a link to the full story of this build in the next post. There are way too many pics to fit here in the thread, so if you want to see all of them, head on over there.)

All righty, I finally built a webpage (actually two) that walk through the build of my outdoor theater. I'll put some pics here, but there are too many for this thread, so if you want to read the whole story, you can go here:

WarrenP's Outdoor Theater Story (with lots of pics) (http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/outdoor-theater.htm)

Here is the starting point, a nice sloping yard, nice and open with plenty of room:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20038.jpg


Here is the basic frame of the screen:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20049.jpg


Here is my deck project that got put on hold to do the outdoor theater. (Priorities!)
http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20040.jpg

I needed a fancy custom equipment rack, so here it is:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20042.jpg


I also needed fancy surround sound speaker stands, and this was a bit of a challenge since our yard is sloping, and I had to be able to adjust the height. So, I used some contractor's tripods that I had from an earlier project:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20064.jpg


Here is the screen installed in place in the yard:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20086.jpg

Here is a shot of the back of the screen:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20088.jpg


Here are my two daughters in front of the screen:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20093.jpg


Here is an overview of the whole setup, from above at the top of the hillside:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20091.jpg

I took a few pics of the screen with the projector running, and you can see the brightness level pretty well, but I was shaking a bit so the pic isn't super crisp. I'll use a tripod in the future.

Here is a shot of the intro disc that I made. This was dusk about 15 minutes before anyone arrived:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20095.jpg


Here is a shot of a DVD menu, again I moved a bit. This picture is taken with a flash:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20099.jpg


Here is the screen as it is stored in the garage:

http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/images/outdoor-theater-pictures/Picture%20103.jpg

All righty, those are some of the pictures. We had about 45 people for the first movie night, and it was a complete success. Beautiful weather, great families, just a wonderful time. We showed The Iron Giant, on the recommendation of others here, and that was a great idea, it went over very well.

I'm looking to get one more show in this year before it gets too cold. I'll get some new pics when that happens.

If you have any questions fire away!

How well does the sub work outdoors?

How well does the sub work outdoors?

They work ok, but, of course no where near as well as inside. In that speaker line there is a 12" sub in each front speaker, so I have both hooked up. It does make a big difference, and since the only extra work was to run an RCA line for the input, and an extension cord for power, how could I not hook them up? :)

Great setup. This makes me want to build my own. Did you have any problems with the neighbors?

Great setup. This makes me want to build my own. Did you have any problems with the neighbors?

Thanks. We live on a Culdesac and two of the neighbor lots yet to have homes built on them. The other neighbors were sitting there having fun, so no problems. In fact, they were the ones who stayed the longest.

Arrrrgh. We had another showing planned for tomorrow, sat, but it looks like mother nature is not going to cooperate.


I wonder if a retractable dome is allowed in the home owners association bylaws? ;)

Couple of solutions for the sub problem:

- attach shakers to seats

- build a modular/collapsible plywood platform to sit on, with a sub/shakers installed.

Another method to attack the general audio/speaker/surround sound issue:

Use a receiver or notebook PC with Dolby Headphone encoding (PowerDVD), and use an FM transmitter for everyone. Dolby Headphone does a great job creating a 5.1 soundfield from DD 5.1 tracks.

With this method, neighbors not participating won't hear the movie.

You could use a good FM transmitter, then your neighbors don't have to buy anything- just bring their MP3 players with FM radios built in, and their own favorite headphones. Plenty of good FM transmitters at Ramsey:

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM10C


http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM25B

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=amfm

Well, we have a show coming up this Sat. The daytime high around here is going to be 55 degrees! That should put it around 50 at showtime, going down to mid 40s. I hope we make it, this is the last show of the year.

Great setup, Warren.

I like the easy set up and easy put up. Very well done!

That is a blast. We have groups that get together to do that with smores and all. Ya know, the whole package.

it's getting warmer...... :)

it's getting warmer...... :)


Yeah, but this is just to lull us into thinking that winter is actually over. And if you are near Chicago, you should know by now that winter doesn't officially end until about May15th.

Yeah, but this is just to lull us into thinking that winter is actually over. And if you are near Chicago, you should know by now that winter doesn't officially end until about May15th.

Sure, kill my buzz.... ;)

I know, you're right. I won't be surprised if we get a blizzard next week!

Another method to attack the general audio/speaker/surround sound issue:

Use a receiver or notebook PC with Dolby Headphone encoding (PowerDVD), and use an FM transmitter for everyone. Dolby Headphone does a great job creating a 5.1 soundfield from DD 5.1 tracks.

With this method, neighbors not participating won't hear the movie.

You could use a good FM transmitter, then your neighbors don't have to buy anything- just bring their MP3 players with FM radios built in, and their own favorite headphones. Plenty of good FM transmitters at Ramsey:

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM10C


http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM25B

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=amfm


Anybody know how big of an antenna I'd need to cover say 4 acres? I want to do a drive in movie this year with everyone watching it through their car radio...

Warren, cool set up. That's only an 1100 lumen projector, correct? And it's viewable (though maybe not perfect) at dusk? I'm trying to do a similar setup and was wondering if I'd need to go with one of the high output business projectors.
thanks

Hey Jake,

Yes it is listed at 1100 lumens. It works fine at dusk, I've got that one photo earlier in the thread which shows it running at dusk, you can see the sky is pretty bright still. For my setup, the projector sits about 25 feet from the screen, I probably could go a bit closer, but it works out well for seating, and so on.

By the time it starts to get dark and folks arrive, it is plenty bright, and the picture is great. I don't think there is any need to go to a light cannon to do this, unless you need a bright image during dusk, versus after the sun sets.



Warren, cool set up. That's only an 1100 lumen projector, correct? And it's viewable (though maybe not perfect) at dusk? I'm trying to do a similar setup and was wondering if I'd need to go with one of the high output business projectors.
thanks

My projector is rated at about half of that. Still works fine but just have to wait a bit longer for it to get dark. See my screen project at the link in my sig.

so anything about 1000 lumens should be good?

so anything about 1000 lumens should be good?

Oh yeah. The motto of most folks is just to get it setup and start having fun. It's a bit different than the inside HT where quality reigns supreme. Outside, the primary goal is fun. Once you get it running, you can always change things out.

I found my projector at 1100 is plenty bright, even on full-moon-no-cloud nights, so yep, anything around there should be just fine.

Hey! We're getting into the season soon here near Chi-town. I thought I'd share what is going on this summer at the old outdoor theater.

I had been looking for a buried sub solution, and didn't find anything that I liked. So, I'm going to build a pair of DIY subs (mostly for use inside), and haul those big boys outside at night. That is job number one, I hope to wrap that in a month or six weeks.

Number two is to bury the wires, so I don't have to drag them out and lay them on the ground each time we want to have a show outside. I'm not sure yet if I will run just the speaker wire, or run a conduit outside and bring a power circuit there as well. If I run power, so I know that power isn't out there when we don't want it. We'll see how that goes.

Lastly, if I get to all that (and my schedule this year is packed, so I may not) my next project is a bigger screen. Right now we have a 16:9 foot screen, but I think I'd like to try a 23.5:10 foot screen. Yeah, baby CIH with an anamorphic lens outside on a screen almost 24 feet wide! I hope I can get to that... it might end up a 2008 project, but it is on the list.

I'll take new pics and post them here and put all the details on the outdoor theater site in my sig as well.

-Warren

Hi WarrenP,

What area of Chicagoland are you in? Cool documentation of what you did. I've worked on some pretty insane outdoor theater efforts, but nothing locally... Yet. :cool:

Hi WarrenP,

What area of Chicagoland are you in? Cool documentation of what you did. I've worked on some pretty insane outdoor theater efforts, but nothing locally... Yet. :cool:


Hey there,

I'm out in the western burbs. I think that since there are so many of us (at least here on the forum) with outdoor theaters in Chicagoland, we need to have an outdoor meet!

Any links or pics to an insane outdoor theater you've worked on?

-Warren

I'm in the Downers area...where are you guys?

Hi Guys,

I'm at the NW edge of the city. I'll probably get around to re-sizing some pics in the next week or two. With the group of enthusiasts in the area, I do think this could be a fun evening event. Of course my own schedule doesn't open up until mid July and I'm busy every weekend after Labor Day. Of course you don't need me to have a meet!

While it's been a little slow lately, there is a small Google forum specific to a Chicago Group of enthusiasts: http://groups.google.com/group/chicagoht

I'm out in the northwest burbs. Having an outdoor theater tour sounds great. By the way, did "Flushed Away" last Friday for opening night. Great fun. Had 18 or so.

I'm in the Downers grove area

OK, I'm thinking of making a new screen. I love the one I have now, but I'm thinking of going "scope" outside. My ideal is to make a screen that is 24 feet by 10 feet. I just need to figure out a good way to do that. I'm used ot the screen system I have now, it is so easy and fast...

Anyone know of a good screen setup/teardown that is big like that?

Looks like great fun, If we did this over in the UK at the moment, everyone would need scuba gear...

OK, I'm thinking of making a new screen. I love the one I have now, but I'm thinking of going "scope" outside. My ideal is to make a screen that is 24 feet by 10 feet. I just need to figure out a good way to do that. I'm used ot the screen system I have now, it is so easy and fast...

Anyone know of a good screen setup/teardown that is big like that?
Our setup is 6' high x 15' wide, and we used 1.5" PVC pipe. Originally, we just built it and glued the screen-frame all together:

*========T========*




T========+========T


That's an * for every 90 degree fitting, a T for every T, and a + for the four-way X at the bottom center. So the legs (not shown - just 4' long pieces of PVC) were removable. The problem with this gig - storage.

I re-worked it so that all of the vertical pieces are glued solid (legs included), and the horizontal bars are removable (just pressed into place). Broken down it ends up being three 10' vertical legs, plus four 5' horizontal bars - much easier to store. Since we're just using coated celtic cloth, wrapped around and cinched up tight on the backside, that gives horizontal stability to it. The legs and whole thing just slip over three 1" pieces of metal conduit pipe, pounded into the ground.

Pictures (http://picasaweb.google.com/psennett/OutdoorTheatre) here.

What I don't know is how that would work at the bigger scale you're suggesting. I suppose I'd start with using larger PVC, like 2", and maybe increasing the verticals to four or more. Not sure if you'd need another horizontal crossmember, or if the larger PVC would be sufficient to maintain rigidity.

Where did you get the screen material? Is that basically a white tarp? Is is cloth or plastic?

Where did you get the screen material? Is that basically a white tarp? Is is cloth or plastic?


I got the 16x9 foot screen material from b-adeals.com, under Screen Materials, Flame Resistant (I think). It was about $140.

ever heard of a weatherproof LCD TV for outdoors. I have seen it in the past but never heard any reviews...

Audio Dude

It is looking like this coming Sat will be the last event of the year for us. Sad to shut it down, but I'm so busy right now... looking forward to great weather and a fun last night!

We're having an impromptu movie night tonight with "The Ant Bully" which I watched with my kids the other day and was pleasantly surprised that it is pretty good!

(We also watched "Happily Never After", which is simply terrible and boring--do not use this movie for a movie night! Your guests will hate you!)

We had a great last night. Just over 30 people, had a nice bonfire, watched Happy Feet (always a crowd pleaser), and played some xbox360 on the 16 foot screen well past 1AM. It did get cold, but it was a great end to the season.

I didn't get some of my upgrades done this year, so hopefully they will get done next year - they'll get posted here when they do.

I'm still looking for the really big screen ideas. I kind of want to try to build a 23.5x10 foot scope screen... we shall see...

WarrenP: I just went through your theater build--very clever for your screen. It looks very light and appears to store quite easily.

Right now, my screen is a very heavy canvas stretched between two very heavy steel poles that are attached to my backyard fence, then stretched taut with guide-lines (this picture is actually bit outdated, because I now use bungee balls along the bottom to tighten the screen up even more.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c90/Etienne_72772/P1000527.jpg

But man is the screen heavy, and very difficult to do by myself.

I am toying with an idea to use 4x8 sheets of foam insulation from Home Depot ($13 a sheet)--it's pretty dense foam with sheeting on each side (one side is silvery, but I think would cause some hotspotting because of its sheen). But anyway, it's pretty stable for foam sheets, and if I could figure out an easy and light way to frame it, I could easily make the screen 4 of these sheets side by side (they could easily be paintable with a primer for the screen material). There would be a seam between the four panel, but I think I could probably minimize that somehow (tape over the seam???)

I have noticed, however, that imperfections in the screen rarely show up on the movie at fully dark. My screen right now is heavily wrinkled and stained and none of this shows up during a movie. I wonder if any seams would...?

One other idea--instead of taping the seams, how about a cloth flap that is adhered to one of the panel and then lies flat against the other panel covering the seam (or use velcro??)

But anyway, WarrenP--since these are 4x8 sheets, I don't think you could use them for 23.5x10...But you could easily do 19x8 (use 5 panels, and even paint a 1 foot black border on the left and right...)

Hey folks,

Not sure if this summer I'm going with the bigger screen, or new outdoor subs. Last year (man, time flies) I wanted to get the buried subs and try them out, but that never materialized.

I think I might just build a pair for outdoor use. I also changed receivers, so my outdoor rig (other than projector at the moment) will all be housed in a nice wheeled portable rack. I'll post the pics here in the Spring when I get that built.

Looking forward to the year!

Hey all. Shameless bump on two threads here. Met with some home theater fans over the weekend, and a few asked me to bring these old threads back....

Nice I am in North Auora, and starting to gather the pieces for our first Backyard Theater. I will be using Trapeeze plus material to make a 16x9 foot screen, the frame will be made out of 1 1/2 pvc. The PJ will be an Epson 705 HD. Still working on audio decisions, and we will have a Cineplex 4oz popcorn machine.

warren or anyone with outdoor venues,
any issues with bugs/insects? i live in rural iowa near farmland and a small wooded area. i had considered an outdoor presentation-even if just for the kids/neighbors to gather-- but am really hesitant due to insect issues. not just mosquitos, but other light attracted insects. do they ever land on the projector lens? if on the screen itself, does it "ruin" the image or distract from the movie?

thanks in advance...

warren or anyone with outdoor venues,
any issues with bugs/insects? i live in rural iowa near farmland and a small wooded area. i had considered an outdoor presentation-even if just for the kids/neighbors to gather-- but am really hesitant due to insect issues. not just mosquitos, but other light attracted insects. do they ever land on the projector lens? if on the screen itself, does it "ruin" the image or distract from the movie?

thanks in advance...

We're out in the far northwestern burbs - lots of little ponds, etc. around my area. We do have a problem with mosquitos, but because they bite. Never had a problem with a bug causing a picture quality problem. Every once in a while, a bug's shadow could be seen on the screen, or a big bug would actually land on the screen, but it has never interfered with our enjoyment of the outdoor movies.

We're out in the far northwestern burbs - lots of little ponds, etc. around my area. We do have a problem with mosquitos, but because they bite. Never had a problem with a bug causing a picture quality problem. Every once in a while, a bug's shadow could be seen on the screen, or a big bug would actually land on the screen, but it has never interfered with our enjoyment of the outdoor movies.

I agree. The bug problem isn't that some bugs get on the equipment and cause damage, it is that some bugs bite you and cause damage to you! I find the mosquitos to be the only real issue to deal with (excluding the weather), sometimes they can be pretty bad. Last year one poor kid wrapped himself up in a sleeping bag - and it was hot that night - just to get some relief from those little biting demons.

Nice I am in North Auora, and starting to gather the pieces for our first Backyard Theater. I will be using Trapeeze plus material to make a 16x9 foot screen, the frame will be made out of 1 1/2 pvc. The PJ will be an Epson 705 HD. Still working on audio decisions, and we will have a Cineplex 4oz popcorn machine.

Awesome! There seems to be more people in Chicagoland doing outdoor theaters than indoor theaters! Post a few pics when you get your setup up and running.

wow that looks awesome! clean up will probably be terrible when it rains, though.

A tip I read was have a small desk fan blowing across the lens to prevent the chance of a bug landing and melting on lens.

wow that looks awesome! clean up will probably be terrible when it rains, though.

This is my old design which took about an hour to setup and 45 minutes to tear down. The new setup is about the same, but a much bigger screen. It could be faster, but I don't feel the need to push it, I'm never in a hurry.

We never run if it looks like rain. That is a downside, for sure. Last year we called off a night because it looked like rain, but the rain never came.

If we stick around in this house, we'll eventually build a pool with a pool house, and I'll have the screen setup to quickly attach there, cables buried, etc... in that kind of setup it would be many 10 minutes for the whole thing. We shall see...

New to this game, don't mean to hijack the OP's thread. Warren's setup looks great.

I am about to embark on this journey, Da-Lite Fast Fold Deluxe 6' x 9' rear projection screen and Optoma TX615 projector. I plan to put the projector in the garage and project out toward the street, shielding the screen from the crosswind that I seem to always have somewhat by placing it just inside the garage.

Intend to play Wii via Component to VGA, Blu-Ray movies once Vizio releases their new player this spring and connect to DirecTV via HDMI.

Very excited to start playing around with this...

New to this game, don't mean to hijack the OP's thread. Warren's setup looks great.

I am about to embark on this journey, Da-Lite Fast Fold Deluxe 6' x 9' rear projection screen and Optoma TX615 projector. I plan to put the projector in the garage and project out toward the street, shielding the screen from the crosswind that I seem to always have somewhat by placing it just inside the garage.

Intend to play Wii via Component to VGA, Blu-Ray movies once Vizio releases their new player this spring and connect to DirecTV via HDMI.

Very excited to start playing around with this...

Hi jack away! This is an old thread I bumped for a few friends.

Getting the setup outside is a blast, lots of fun. Post some pics down the road when you get your gear up and running. :)

I am a little concerned about ambient light. My hope is that I have a few things working in my favor. The sun rises in the front, but moves up and over the house and sets in the back. I am cautiously optomistic that the house will block the sun and allow for use in the late afternoon/early evening.

I picked a projector with 3400 lumens specifically for that reason.

Because the primary application is "DriveWii," I am not as concerned with picture quality, the Wii tops out at 480p. But, if I can see it as the sun moves up and over, that opens my world up to sports via satellite. I have the parts to run an HDMI cable to the wall and terminate in a keystone jack. Just plug and play. I have an IR repeater already in the garage. The only issue left to resolve is whether there is any delay in the audio between HDMI and the composite output on the sat as I don't intend to run audio through the projector and already have the composite outs run into the a/v amp in the garage. It's complicated, but I have a video distribution system in place.

I am looking at a series of patch cords to make the garage extravaganza work. USB extenders for the Wii microphones for my girls, 50' RCA cables for the audio, spare power brick, spare Wii video cable, Component to VGA breakout cable, coupler, maybe a miniPhono to RCA adapter, Blu-Ray player, couple of HDMI patch cords and a spare Wii sensor bar. The idea is to have everything behind the screen (well not BEHIND it, that would create shadows) so that the driveway is free from obstruction, except for the band instruments in DriveWii mode.

Other than the anticipated harassment from the HOA, I think the neighbors will love it. It's a great use for my old JBL speakers. I might take the Klipsch speakers off the wall in the garage and actually set up surround sound if this takes off. Won't be hard.

Haven't decided if I am going to get the front projection screen material as well or not. That would make backyard theater more realistic. However, sun and wind in my area would require waiting until after dark and a lot more tethering to secure the screen.

Anyone use the Da-Lite fast-fold screens? Tips? Thoughts?