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The Timelapse Theatre - Planning n' Build Log

151K views 1K replies 104 participants last post by  J_P_A 
#1 · (Edited)
#77 ·
Thanks for the compliments. Photo and video are a hobby / side business.


I'm making these timelapse videos using a GoPro HD 960 camera . The camera is tiny. I stuck a gigantic magnet on the tripod mount so I can stick the thing pretty much anywhere. The camera takes snaps every 2,5,10, or 30 seconds depending on the user selection. I use 2 seconds and slap a 32GB card in there so it has no practical time limit except for the battery life (about 3 hours). I can shoot that camera while it's on wall power too which is sweet.


I import all of the frames into Lightroom and crop them to 16:9, adjust for brightness, etc., and then tie them together using some freeware timelapse software on the Mac. I just upgraded to Lightroom 3 so that I can automatically correct for the fisheye distortion on every frame. Pretty slick.


When this whole project is finally finished I'm going to tie all of these videos together into a nonstop construction video. I'm toying with the idea of recropping the whole thing to 2.4:1 so that it will play perfectly on my screen! :LOL:

Quote:
Originally Posted by nebrunner /forum/post/0


If you had gone with the damp play sand could you have stuck a portable de humidifier in there for a day or two and dried it all out?

I don't see any problem with that solution except that I have no desire to buy a $300+ dehumidifier!
 
#78 ·
I've been really busy with life since my last update and haven't made any progress on construction. I traveled to Rhode Island the weekend before last and New York this past weekend for back to back Maker Faires. I had a blast but I am exhausted mentally and physically!


My wife and I decided that it would be a good idea to get our hot tub controller replaced. We only moved into the house in May but the hot tub has been installed since the late 80's. The timer was broken on it when we bought the house. I was originally planning to build my own Arduino-based control system but I decided that I had too much to learn before I could do it safely!
Instead we'll be getting a new outdoor-rated UL certified controller that can handle the gas pack, four pumps (WAY more than I need!), etc. and the best part is that it will be done and ready to use in the next two weeks or so!

ANYWAY! On to the Home Theatre portion of our rambling update!


I have been thinking about acoustics lately because my next plan after enclosing the stage is to mount acoustic treatment to the drywall behind the screen. I have been planning on using Linacoustic duct liner based on all of the suggestions in this forum. I think that the 2-inch thick product is what I want. Does that sound right? The price I got from a local supplier was $246 for a 50' roll of the 2" material. How does that sound?


I have also been thinking about bass traps. The screen and stage are off-center in the room. That means that the right channel will be far closer to a boundary than the left channel.


The left channel will be basically sitting 5-6' from the left wall but the right channel will be sitting more like 2-3' from the right wall. I was thinking that I would stack OC703 or Linacoustic triangles in the right corner only. What do you guys think about this plan?
 
#80 ·
I'm starting to think that I did something wrong with the stage. I put the first layer of OSB on top today and, well, when I knock on it it sounds kind of hollow. I didn't expect it to sound as dead as concrete but I expected it to sound more dead than it does. Instead of the dull thud that I had hoped for I'm hearing a pronounced, if brief, knock.


I have always thought that the sand-filled stage should be an anchor for the front array and subwoofer... the sand being a method of reducing resonance to near-nothing for the express benefit of the speakers. I do understand that the mass is also used, when combined with a stage that is not in contact with the walls, to reduce the transmission of mechanical vibration to the rest of the house. I've certainly achieved THAT!


Maybe I'm over thinking it but for once in my life I'm taking pause. I wouldn't want all that sand-lifting to have been for nothing!


Maybe a layer of green glue between the first and second layers of OSB is in order?

edit: maybe I didn't add enough sand? The sand comes pretty much right to the top of the cavities but it doesn't overflow them. There is probably 1/32" or so of air between the OSB and the sand. I really hope it's not this!
 
#84 ·
I'm going to rip up the work I did yesterday
and replace the 7/16" OSB with 3/4" instead. I was planning to do two sheets of 7/16" but two layers of 3/4" should take care of a lot of rigidity and hollowness issues. I may top off the cavities with more sand while I'm at it. Yay!
 
#85 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jdanforth /forum/post/0


I'm going to rip up the work I did yesterday
and replace the 7/16" OSB with 3/4" instead. I was planning to do two sheets of 7/16" but two layers of 3/4" should take care of a lot of rigidity and hollowness issues. I may top off the cavities with more sand while I'm at it. Yay!

Yeah if sand spillage is no problem you could slightly overfill and float or screet the plywood on top by sliding side to side and let the excess sand spill out. This would net your plywood tight against the bed of sand.....
 
#86 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by NicksHitachi /forum/post/20996857


Yeah if sand spillage is no problem you could slightly overfill and float or screet the plywood on top by sliding side to side and let the excess sand spill out. This would net your plywood tight against the bed of sand.....

Yeah that's kinda what I'm doing now but I'm not convinced it's necessary!
 
#87 ·

I didn't make very much progress today. I finally wound up with a layer of 7/16" OSB, a layer of 30# roofing felt, and another layer of 7/16" OSB on top of that. The stage actually sounds VERY solid now! Yay!


The sad part is that I managed to make three runs to Home Depot, one run to my office in TechShop (hunting for my 1/2" router collet), at least an hour or two rummaging in the garage for the same collet, and at least an hour driving! I hate wasting time looking for tools and materials!



My plan at this point is to

1. Use a flush trim bit to smooth out the OSB sandwich that spills over the stage edge,

2. tack two strips of 1/2 x 3/4" stock to the edge all the way around,

3. follow around the tacked strips with a roundover bit for carpet.


I just ordered, reluctantly, a replacement 1/2" collet for my router. I have to wait until TUESDAY to do anything more!
Maybe while I wait I'll see about ordering some linacoustic for the screen wall.
 
#90 ·
Thanks for the tips! I'll check those places out!


Last night I installed spikes in the bottom of the Meridian DSP 5000s and put them up on the stage.

Warning: Audiophile Language and Superlatives Ahead
I was so pleased by the sound from the speakers up on that stage! I'm willing to concede that some of the pleasure is psychosomatic having thrown so much blood and sweat into the stage project but WOW! I thought that the bass was tight and sudden with a visceral impact. The mid range was still muddy, of course, due to the lack of treatments in the room but the imaging was surprisingly good. I had a strong emotional reaction to various pieces of music that I fired up... the old classic favorites and demo pieces that I know so very well. It was enough to encourage me to keep up the good fight in making this room awesome.
[Audiophile Gushing Ends]



On a more practical note I did notice sound from the main water drain in the closet in the back of the room. I knew that the water drain would be audible but I hadn't been in the room without power tools running to hear it! I'm going to replace or sand-fill the door to that closet and add layers of linacoustic to the interior of the closet to absorb that noise... eventually.
 
#92 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by HFGuy /forum/post/21001585


Why does part of the stage get filled with sand and the other part insulation ? Is the difference what the speakers are standing on ?

In my case, yes, the difference is that I will only have speakers on the rear portion (behind the screen). Opinions vary on whether you should fill the entire stage. I opted, quite wisely if I do say so myself, not to lug another half ton or more of sand into my basement to fill areas of the stage that will not be beneath speakers.
 
#93 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jdanforth /forum/post/0


Thanks for the tips! I'll check those places out!


Last night I installed spikes in the bottom of the Meridian DSP 5000s and put them up on the stage.


Warning: Audiophile Language and Superlatives Ahead

I was so pleased by the sound from the speakers up on that stage! I'm willing to concede that some of the pleasure is psychosomatic having thrown so much blood and sweat into the stage project but WOW! I thought that the bass was tight and sudden with a visceral impact. The mid range was still muddy, of course, due to the lack of treatments in the room but the imaging was surprisingly good. I had a strong emotional reaction to various pieces of music that I fired up... the old classic favorites and demo pieces that I know so very well. It was enough to encourage me to keep up the good fight in making this room awesome.

[Audiophile Gushing Ends]


On a more practical note I did notice sound from the main water drain in the closet in the back of the room. I knew that the water drain would be audible but I hadn't been in the room without power tools running to hear it! I'm going to replace or sand-fill the door to that closet and add layers of linacoustic to the interior of the closet to absorb that noise... eventually.

uhoh!


Audiophile, tight and visceral bass.....


*facepalm*
 
#94 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by NicksHitachi /forum/post/21001997


uhoh!


Audiophile, tight and visceral bass.....


*facepalm*

LOL! Hey, I warned you! Maybe I should have put SPOILERS tags around that or something!


Whenever I feel the need to describe an audio system it always reminds me of this from Top Gear: The Cliché Swear Box.
We should have an audiophile version!



 
#95 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by NicksHitachi /forum/post/21001997


uhoh!


Audiophile, tight and visceral bass.....


*facepalm*

By the way, did you solve your projector vibration problem to your satisfaction? I was wondering about that for my own projector. Mine will have to contend with shaking from people walking upstairs AND (tight, visceral) bass.
 
#96 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jdanforth /forum/post/21002296


(tight
, visceral
) bass.

Yeah it settled down. I moved the subs and distributed them around the listening area. Originally they were all on the front wall behind the screen wall, after moving two out to the outside and two to the back wall, the shaking stopped. originally all the woofs were really close to the front wall which I think just got to resonating when all there together. After spreading them out the response got smoother and the shaking stopped.
 
#97 ·
Stage Construction Mumbo Jumbo

My 1/2" router collet came in on Tuesday so I set to work cutting the excess OSB off of the top of the stage. I used a massive 2x1/2" flush trim bit and followed the curve of the stage's top step exactly. It worked much better than I thought it would but it wasn't a perfect job. If I weren't going to put padding and carpet on top of it then I would be seriously annoyed!


I have added a couple of things to my "things I wish I'd do differently" list:

1. use a thicker material on the front of the steps. The material I used flexed a little bit when I was following it with the flush-trim bit.


2. make sure that both layers of OSB on the top step overlap the bottom step 110%. By cutting the step profile flush I was able to have the top layer drop right into place along the curve of the bottom step. Unfortunately there was only one layer (so I still have to cut another one) and it didn't cover the entire step anyway.


Now that I've cut the decking for the top of the stage I'm going to cheat. I'm going to carefully measure the bottom step and then CNC cut the decking for it. I should have done this for the top from the start... After I install the bottom step's decking I'm going to tack 1/2" strips of wood to the edge and then route a roundover profile.

Acoustics Mumbo Jumbo

My wife had a great idea when we were chatting about the theatre. I was bemoaning the slap echo and the installation of absorption around the perimeter of the room. My wife suggested that we install floor to ceiling acoustic panels spaced appropriately rather than covering the bottom perimeter in absorber and fabric and then covering the upper drywall perimeter in fabric only. The latter option has always sounded attractive to me but it also seems like a whole ton of work and material.


So we were thinking about building some, say, 4x6 foot frames, filling them with OC703, and covering them with prints from Spoonflower. The idea, of course, comes right out of the DIY Custom Printed Movie Poster Acoustic Panels thread. I like that this makes the room fairly easy to customize down the road. I have a huge library of photography that I've shot over the years that would look amazing in that large format.


To expand on the idea, however, I was thinking about putting these frames on a track of some kind so that I could change their position if I needed to. Good idea? Bad idea?

Off Topic Videography Mumbo Jumbo

I have been dutifully recording video the entire time while I've been working on the stage but I'm not going to edit it down until the stage construction is finished. Maybe next week... I just bought Final Cut Pro X yesterday and it is actually very good. I have been using iMovie '11 and it does most of what I want but FCPX is so much faster and more powerful. I've also decided to upgrade my time lapse equipment so I've ordered a proper bulb-ramping intervalometer for my Canon 7D. The quality out of the 7D is heaps better than the GoPro!
 
#99 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by NicksHitachi /forum/post/21015345


OMG that one has a flux capacitor and runs at 1.21Jigawatts!!!!

Only at 88 mph



Keep up the good work, and keep the posts coming. If I am any indication, there are plenty of people following along that don't post very often!
 
#101 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by J_P_A /forum/post/21015417


Only at 88 mph



Keep up the good work, and keep the posts coming. If I am any indication, there are plenty of people following along that don't post very often!

Thanks! It feels like I'm talking to myself sometimes but I know all too well from lurking in other threads how much I enjoy sitting back and watching the plan unfold!
 
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