Well i started framing up my basement and thought i might as well frame one room as a theater. Do have a couple concerns though. The room is 10'10" by 17'9" with about 7 foot ceilings. My main concern is there a beam that runs through the middle of the bigger wall. I was planning on useing a projector but i was unsure if i could just hang it behind the beam and shoot it on the screen. If i put it in front of the beam it would be less than 9 feet from the screen and from what i can tell thats not far enough away to get a decent picture. I have not bought the projector or screen yet. The project will continue as money allows which could take some time. Let me know what you guys think. Thank You
JJ

Hi JJ. It's usually much easier for people to help out if you can post pictures and diagrams of the area and what you want to do with it.

-drin

What a good tool to use draw it up. Tried using Google Sketch Up but the forum doesn't allow that file extension.

You can save sketch-up files as jpg's. Then just host the photo and link.

Get a photobucket account. See the third link in my sig.

Not able to convert the skp to a jpg. I must be missing something.
JJ

Either take a screen shot of it while you are in sketchup and use paint or something to clean it up, or use the export feature of sketchup... File/Export/2d Graphic.

Alright here it is. The line in the middle is th beam that runs across the room. I would like to put the screen on the right side.
Drawing (http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i289/jjgear/Theater%20Room/?action=view&current=TheaterRoom.jpg)

What's the height to the bottom of the beam?

-drin

About 6ft 2in after everything is said and done. Is that going to be too low?
Thanks
JJ

Would i be better off just running it from a table in the back of the room. Also i see a lot of people have soffits on the side. Is this something that is recommended.
Thanks
JJ

6'2" is too low if you have to be able to walk under the projector. It is hard to tell from you drawing, but where is the entry way to your room? You could sit it on a table, but then you have to leave the middle of your room open and miss out on having any seats centered.

As long as your entry way isn't going to be in the middle of the back wall, I would simply make a shelf on that back wall that is low enough for the projector to shoot under, but high enough so that the light doesn't hit anyone's head while seated. You could use a taller AV stand or bookshelf as well if you wanted to go that route.

Also i see a lot of people have soffits on the side. Is this something that is recommended.
There was a recent thread on here discussing The Purpose of Soffits (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=884548).

Better drawing. I was hoping to enclose the sump pump in what would be a large column and do the same in the opposite corner of the back wall and use that as a equipment rack. Could possibly put a shelf of sorts with some room to put dvd movies above the projector. The room it self is in the end of the house. The front of the room is going to be next a bedroom and the back will be next to a hallway slash office. Here is a better drawing of the room.Better Drawing (http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i289/jjgear/Theater%20Room/?action=view&current=TheaterRoom-1.jpg)

My cousin has a similar basement as yours. And I recommend to you what I told him. I would place the projector in front of the beam - assuming that you have 17'9" depth - you beam I assume will be located somewhere 9'. Place the projector on 8' from the front screen. You can get around 100" screen with your depth. The projector you get must be able to handle short throw. Most of the 1080p projector can handle up to as close as 7 feet distance (but not that highly recommended). On the other half of your room, after the beam - I would build "coffered ceiling". This will add an impression on the seating area that the ceiling is higher than 7'. Angled your coffered diagonally - making 2' squares. I did this in my current HT (I have 8.5" height) and it made my second row look taller.

Better drawing. I was hoping to enclose the sump pump in what would be a large column and do the same in the opposite corner of the back wall and use that as a equipment rack. Could possibly put a shelf of sorts with some room to put dvd movies above the projector. The room it self is in the end of the house. The front of the room is going to be next a bedroom and the back will be next to a hallway slash office. Here is a better drawing of the room.Better Drawing (http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i289/jjgear/Theater%20Room/?action=view&current=TheaterRoom-1.jpg)


We covered our sump with a stage. It is not easy to get to, but I will be able to get there if I really need to. I have to pull the carpet back, and unscrew several screws to pull up the access panel. It rarely turns on, so was not a big concern. If you don't want to lose your wall space to a couple of closets, you could have it hidden by a riser since it is at the back of your room.

Well the projectors i were looking at were either the HD70 or the AX100U. I don't know about only throwing from a distance of 8 feet though. Doesn't seem like that would be enough to get a decent image.
JJ

jjgear-
I have a similar issue with a beam going cross wise thru my 13.5 X 21 foot room. It's just about right in the middle of the room. I'm going to ceiling mount my projector right behind the soffited beam, but my height to bottom of beam is 6' 8". 6" 2" would be iffy, but every design has it's compromises!

If you have the budget, maybe you could use a projector lift?

If i put the projector in the back of the room how high could i put it up before it would hit bottom of the beam. The beam is 6ft 2 in. If this seems like a bad idea just let me know. I went down and measured out a 100in screen down there and it seems to be very large. So i might be able to survive with that or i could do a 92in screen. Also i don't see a projector that could shoot a image from 8 feet if thats what i ended up doing.
Thank
JJ

I used a very low tech method to determine that placement in back of room wasn't going to work for me...I attached a piece of string from where I figured the lens would be near the back wall and pulled it taught to where the bottom and then the top of screen would be on the opposite wall. Turned out people's heads in the first row would be in the way. :( Thus the placement just behind the beam soffit...

I'm not having any luck finding a PJ that can shoot a 100 in image from 9 feet away. Does anyone know of one that would do this. Want to have atleast 720p.
Thanks
JJ