I spent 2 years constructing my first theater in my last house, then sold it within 2 months of completion and didn't get to enjoy it. I am now ready to torture myself again with our new house. We have been in it for 8 months and I have finally finished painting, landscaping, and putting tile and hardwood floors in the rest of the house, so the wife has finally approved commencement on basement work. The first picture is the open unfinished basement as is.

http://usera.imagecave.com/ccoolidge/unfinishedbasement-copy-copy.jpg

This is my initial plan. The unfinished area of the basement has lots of beams eliminating the possibility of any riser, not to mention lots of ductwork, plumbing, etc. so that is why the theater has to be where it is. The finished dimensions will be about 21' x 13' x 7.5' with the screen wall area narrowing to about 10'. The con of this design is I don't get to walk through the concession area to get to the theater.
http://usera.imagecave.com/ccoolidge/Finished1-copy.jpg

This next design moves the theater entrance closer to the screen wall. Now I get to walk through the concession area, but the con is now the door is close to the screen wall and may be a distraction.
http://usera.imagecave.com/ccoolidge/finished3-copy.jpg

Viewing distances will be approximately 11' & 16.5', planning on a 102" wide SMX screen. Please comment or give me some other ideas.

Thanks!!!

Hmmm... I'm still a HT n00b so this is just an uneducated opinion but what if you were to flip the whole thing in the other direction? Put the seats in the smaller side with the screen wall on the larger wall? From the looks of it that should avoid the need to angle one of the seats. With a room that long you can even move the seats forward a bit, maybe putting your "sweet spot" into the larger portion of the room.

Just a thought...

Kevin

Im with Kevin, Id flip the room. I ended up doing that as well as I was building.

Ryan

I like the first layout better. More dramatic entering in the rear, makes more sense to have the ticket booth by the door.

The one thing I wished I had thought about was moving (well, turning) the stairs. I don't think that would help you, but I thought I'd mention it, since I wished I had considered it.

I did have it flipped in my initial design, BUT,

#1 - I lose a seat

#2 - I have to have the door where it is due to the stage (not a bad thing, just pointing this out)

#3 - The viewing distance for the front row is reduced due to the placement of the side surrounds/columns. Front row viewing distance is now ~ 9 to 9.5 feet down from 11 unless I place the seats right in line with the side surrounds/columns which I have heard is not ideal.


The pro is that I get to use a wider screen if I want, I am forced to go through the concession area to get to the theater door (a good thing), the theater door is at the back of the theater, and I can place the projector outside of the room if I want shooting through a projector porthole.

http://usera.imagecave.com/ccoolidge/finished2-copy.jpg

The one thing I wished I had thought about was moving (well, turning) the stairs. I don't think that would help you, but I thought I'd mention it, since I wished I had considered it.


Unfortunately, the stairwell is not closed off (there is no door to the basement, the only door is at the bottom of the stairwell). It is an open stairwell finished with fancy fluted columns and an arch and whatnot that the wife would have serious issue with me closing off. :rolleyes: Otherwise, that would give me a couple more options.