2nd Run Cinema - A fabric frame theater

Here is my theater design with fabric frames. There are a few details to finish but it is mostly complete.

Many thanks to GPowers (obviously) and the following who have had input over the past 2 years; Bryan pape, Curt Palme, Dennis, Terry, BigMouthDC, Ken Whitcomb, Art, Ethan, plus others who I have missed.

The room is 10' x 21' x 8. It is named (for now) 2nd Run Cinema because I tried to use as many used, 2nd hand items as possible. Receiver, 8 speakers, screen, projector, rack, grafix eye, video processor, popcorn maker, candy counter, garbage can, power controller and even some of the dricore floor were all bought as used items.


The color is off in the pictures. The walls are not as bright red as they appear. The columns are really a darker grey than they look and the entire stage is black even though it doesn't look so in the photos.

Walls - GOM Anchorage Mulberry (25 yds)
Columns - GOM Spinel Smokey Quartz (10 yds)
Soffits/Stage - GOM FR701 Black (15 yds)
15,000 staples !
Dark Grey carpet on floor and riser.
Black carpet on stage.
Grafix Eye 3106 - 6 zones - 23 4" lights plus 2 outdoor step lights and a white rope light for trey lighting.

More details to follow. - Bud












Mulberry - the real color of the walls although even this sample looks too light !

It took 2 years from the time I started with bare concrete walls.

There were many weeks and probably months that nothing got done on it at all. I tried to spend a lot of time planning and was very methodical about it. I didn't want to spend that much time and not have it right. Plus, my wife and I did everything ourselves except for installing the carpet.

Construction is DD w/GG all around. The walls and the ceiling joists are isolated from the rest of the house... ceiling lights in MDF boxes and the soffit was built just like Gpowers so the room ended up really tight.

7.1 sound from a used Onkyo TX-SR875 receiver and used Paradigm speakers. 110" diagonal (96" x 54" 16:9) screen. The projector is a Barco 1208s/e+ that I painted black. Oppo BluRay player and DVDO VP50Pro processor.

Adding a few more pics. The "lobby" outside the theater is a work in progress. The concession counter and popcorn popper were stripped and rebuilt. There is still some work to do on the outside of the door and the door frame, as well as trying to decide how to decorate the space. We'll likely add a poster frame or two but I'm not sure at this point.

I found the concession stand on the local Craigslist and it was $50. I may have overpaid but I figured it was less work to paint this one than to try and build or modify something.

It was listed as a display case. It's nice because it has extra storage space underneath so I can hide all the popcorn supplies and the extra candy.

Best of luck with your search. Bud

I forgot to mention that all the equipment is in an equipment room that is located behind the screenwall and is accessable from outside of the theater only. I'll post some pics of that once I get the wiring cleaned up and the Harmony One programmed.

I still need to play with the DVDO processor and the projector to get the most out of each but the theater is still too new that I can not get anyone to quit using it for a few days so that I can play with the setups! Frankly, I could use a break for awhile.

Somebody sent me a PM with questions about the door so I thought I would just answer the question in this forum.

The door is more complex than it looks... while being simple at the same time. It's a standard, steel door so it has full weatherstripping with a threshold.

But the theater side face of the door sat back about 2-1/2" from the frames in the room. Because of that setback, if I had just mounted frames to the door I would have had to leave a 3" gap on the right side (hinge side) so that the frames would clear the door frame.

What I decided I wanted to do was to have the frames the full width of the door but have them slide out, away from the hinge, as the door is opened and then move back into position as the door was closed.

How I did it was to mount 2, 24" wide ball bearing chassis slides to the inside face of the door. Then I mounted a piece of 1/2" MDF to the mating pieces of the chassis slides and then mounted the frames to the MDF with french cleats and velcro. So the mdf (with the frames attached) was now able to move left and right. I rigged up a pivot hinge and piece of steel angle and mounted that angle to the sliding MDF and the pivot hinge to the door frame. You can see it on the right side of the door.

So, when I open the door the mdf panel slowly moves about 1.5" or so automatically to the left which is just enough for the frames to clear the hinge side of door frame when the door is open 90 degrees.

I had to buy 2 sets of door knobs and weld them together to get a shaft that would span the entire 4" or so of door thickness.

It's pretty cool and a subtle detail that I am proud of.

Yep, it's an 8 oz popper. It's obviously an older model but what is nice about it is that the heavy, cast aluminum pot heats really evenly and if I time it right I get little or no smoking.

We've found that 6 oz packets are about the right size for 4 or 5 of us.

I'll try to get a pic of the hinge tonight. I searched hinge catalogs online until I found something that would work. It's an off the shelf hinge and a small piece of angle that makes it all work.

There are probably lots of ways to do this but I was trying to find the easiest way.

Concerning the door knob, all I did was take 2 door latch sets and mate them together. If you buy a door knob that is reversable, like the style I used, the piece in there that connects the 2 door knobs together is removable. I simply bought to 2 sets, removed that piece of each set, cut one of them to the correct length and welded it to the other piece. With the sliding mdf panel, the slides and the door, my effective door thickness is approx 4".

I cut a slot in the frame (and in the fabric) and I figured out a way to mount the door handle a hair above the panel. This allows the panel/frame to move independently of the door handle.

More pics tonights.

Here are the pictures of the hinge that moves the mdf door panel and frames. Remember that this is the only purpose of the hinge as the door itself is mounted with 3 heavy duty hinges. Ignore the colors in the photo... everything really does match but the camera doesn't show that.

This is the hinge mounted to the door frame extension and the angle mounted to the slinding MDF.


Here is a few of the same hinge/angle without the frame mounted.


I purchased an extra hinge just in case I needed it and cut a 2nd angle but I didn't bother to drill holes in it. I don't expect to need this.


A pic of the lengthened (welded) door mechanism.


Handle mounted. There is a little more to it than appears. The assembly process necessitated some modifications (holes) in the mdf that I didn't plan for, but since the mdf is covered with the fabric frames you never notice it.


I'll try to answer any other questions.

Thanks for looking.

The door handle assembly required some last minute holes be put in the Mdf panel. All the holes are hidden once the frames are on so you never see the mess underneath.

If I were to do it again I would think it through and do a neater job with the cuts.

The aluminum plate in this pic is mounted to the door and it's purpose is to hold the standoffs that stick through the fabric frame in order to attach the door knob on the inside of the theater. The door knob needed to be held in a fixed position as the panel slides underneath of it. The standoffs provide just enough height to hold the latch just a hair above the fabric frame.



Under the plate, there are screws that attach the door latch to the door. Then comes the plate with the standoffs. Stick the fabric frame on the door, slide the welded door latch piece through the door and simply screw on the final pieces of the latch.

Thanks, but it's pretty simple compared to the big boys. The door is the only unique piece as most other ideas were borrowed from other AVS'ers.

Yes and No. The Soffits are covered in Black FrR701 but the ceiling is painted Flat Black.

I also painted all of the rings on the can lights flat black.

Thanks Old. Yes, you are probably right that most don't notice the door or if they do, they don't realize that it slides as it opens..... and they certainly don't realize what it took to make it work.

But, that's the fun of this hobby.