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"Xzener's Dedicated Theater" Construction Thread - Page 8

post #211 of 326
4/15/11 at 7:23am
My only concern about the bookshelves by the screen is that bookshelves can end up looking very junky.

Just be a stickler (did you know using the real spelling of the word n@zi gains you an automatic infraction?) about keeping it neat and tidy.
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post #212 of 326
4/15/11 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 
I bought the American DJ black lights... they were the lowest profile fixture I could find. They will be completely consealed by the soffit.

Im not sold on the shelves... My wife wants to hang black curtains around the screen. I think I like that idea better.
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post #213 of 326
4/15/11 at 11:50pm
xzener,

I think you should give your original bookshelf idea a try. I think it works well in a more modern looking room like yours especially with the wood floor. The only way I think it would look cheap is if you got funky ones from Walmart and they were thin and uneven, but the IKEA stuff is pretty hefty. You could always use them in another room if you don't end up liking them. Although I think your Ikea trip will be like mine since I think you said you are also in the central valley, I looked at the distances and was basically right in the middle of IKEA's in Burbank, E. Palo Alto, Emeryville, or Sacramento. I ended up borrowing a friends truck and going to E. Palo Alto as they had what I wanted for sure in stock and spent about $90.00 in gas, but I got what I wanted since ikea wanted like $300.00 to ship the item!!!!
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post #214 of 326
4/16/11 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the input cheezit73,

I honestly don't have the nick-nacks/games/movies to fill so many shelves. Like cybrsage said, keeping things neat and tidy is my main concern. I can always revert back to that idea. But I think my wifes idea of curtains (she used to work at a fabric store making curtains) will be very nice looking.

But until then (still have to build the stage) the black screen wall works very well.
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post #215 of 326
4/16/11 at 12:45pm
Very true,

I have just the black screen wall (well every things black lol) and the Screen just floats. I am thinking about adding black velvet curtains and and automated curtain rod so that when I am not watching movies the screen is covered. I just need to make sure I have enough room for curtain stack!
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post #216 of 326
4/20/11 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 
Just received all my black lights... Oh my goodness what a difference, I put up two in one of the corners... Those star really POP now! I can't wait to get them all up there. Have a little electrical work ahead of me, I'd like to have them on their own circuit so I can turn them on and off to my liking. Maybe use my old Lutron Maestro (IR controlled) that would be nice... I'm so lazy. But, I have a few more days of spring break left, so this will have to wait a while. Might be able to get them installed this up coming Monday, we'll see.
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post #217 of 326
4/21/11 at 8:07am
I like the curtains idea better myself, when I saw the render of the shelves idea, it makes it feel more like a big TV, versus a theater.
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post #218 of 326
4/21/11 at 5:45pm
Thread Starter 
I totally agree... I just picked up the two credenzas at Ikea... can't wait to get them home. Im visiting my Mom in Susanville, CA.
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post #219 of 326
4/25/11 at 9:09pm
Thread Starter 
The credenzas are put together and look AMAZING in the theater room (pictures coming soon). $99 per credenza was a steal, they are very good quality and am happy with the amount of customization I can do with them. I was worried my Onkyo AVR and HTPC wouldn't fit, but the shelves are movable to where they'll fit nicely. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I also took a couple pictures of the ceiling area with the new black lights, I will post those here soon too.
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post #220 of 326
4/27/11 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
Wired up all the blacklights today. Plugged them into the Grafic Eye rope light socket... THE STARS LOOK SPECTACULAR!!!! I tried taking a picture, but my camera does it no justice. You gotta see it, I was awe struck.

I will be constructing a bracket to hold the Xbox Kinect to the bottom of the screen this weekend. Debating on running the wires through the wall??? We'll see.

I will post up some screens tomorrow.
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post #221 of 326
4/27/11 at 10:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xzener View Post

Wired up all the blacklights today. Plugged them into the Grafic Eye rope light socket... THE STARS LOOK SPECTACULAR!!!! I tried taking a picture, but my camera does it no justice. You gotta see it, I was awe struck.

I will be constructing a bracket to hold the Xbox Kinect to the bottom of the screen this weekend. Debating on running the wires through the wall??? We'll see.

I will post up some screens tomorrow.

I am really looking forward to seeing it. What kind of camera do you have? Can you try and put it on a tripod and put it in Manual Mode (M), turn flash off, set Aperture to something like 4.0, and Shutter speed to about 5 seconds. Set it to shoot on timer of 3 seconds. You might have to experiment with the Shutter speed depending on how much ambient light you have going on.
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post #222 of 326
4/27/11 at 10:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kezug View Post

I am really looking forward to seeing it. What kind of camera do you have? Can you try and put it on a tripod and put it in Manual Mode (M), turn flash off, set Aperture to something like 4.0, and Shutter speed to about 5 seconds. Set it to shoot on timer of 3 seconds. You might have to experiment with the Shutter speed depending on how much ambient light you have going on.

I can try. Its an older Cannon... A point an shoot 8mp. It has a few different modes, but I usually just use auto. I will try a few different things and see what I can come up with. The problem with the black light is its UV... Cameras seem to expose more light than what the naked eye sees. I sure wish I had a really good DSLR, some professional pictures might just do it some justice.
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post #223 of 326
4/28/11 at 2:30pm
I'm still trying to fill that spot where I told that homeowner that I wouldn't be doing his theater room up in the Sacramento area. I think that I may have something in Fresno... and hope to be out there over the weekend still. I'll email you. But, I did a little practicing with the Canon 20D last night and got some really nice pictures of my ceiling... so we should be able to get some nice pictures of yours too.

You think it's nice now... just wait until the Milky Way and a few hundred (or thousand) stars are added to the mural. :-) Still can't wait to get out there. Don't give up on me. THis guy up in SAC messed things up by changing things over and over and over again until I'd had enough.

Sounds like it's working out for you already though. I'll be in touch.
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post #224 of 326
4/28/11 at 2:59pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the update Jeff. Still anxiously awaiting your arrival... The mural looks AMAZING!!

Been messing around with my older Cannon A560. It has a feature to adjust the shutter speed, but I hardly notice a difference. I managed to get a couple good shots of it though.

This pic has been Photoshoped. I took a pic with the lights on and one with them off, cut and pasted them together. This picture has me wishing I'd gone with a black base color instead of a cloudy sky mural, it really looks like the ceiling/roof disappeared...



And here is one after I messed with the (minimal available) shutter speed adjustment feature of my camera...



Looking at the two photos side by side, I guess there is a noticable difference with the shutter speed lowered.
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post #225 of 326
4/28/11 at 3:29pm
Thread Starter 
And as promised, here are some more shots of the nearly completed theater.




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post #226 of 326
4/28/11 at 4:56pm
Thread Starter 
Well, its time to adjust my Harmony remote. Seems as though ultraviolet light hinders infrared light useless. When the black lights are on (eight 4 footers) my remote doesn't turn on my PJ, Xbox or PS3... My AVR is the only thing that works. Found this all out the hard way I guess.

Gonna have to add a delay to power everything else off as soon as the black lights are off and vise versa.

May end up getting an RF Harmony and using emitters, we'll see if I can fix it by adjusting power on/off settings on the remote first.
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post #227 of 326
4/28/11 at 7:38pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmm... I was hoping to have some replies, guess everyone is busy.

I fixed the ultraviolet/infrared issue. Had to adjust when things are powered off, and added a delay to the PJ. All is well now.
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post #228 of 326
4/28/11 at 8:43pm
Totally frickin' awesome, xzener! Totally!

Very jealous! Way to go!
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post #229 of 326
4/28/11 at 9:23pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you very much Hanesian...

I wish my camera took better photo's... These pics seriously don't do it justice.

Now that the sun is down, I took a couple more shots. I played with Photoshop on this one, adjusting exposure, brightness and contrast. This one (on my computer) looks closer to the real thing...



EDIT: I've noticed the screen shots look MUCH better with my laptop as opposed to my 56" DLP.
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post #230 of 326
4/28/11 at 10:08pm
Xzener, Just absolutely awesome!!!!!!!!!! I am so behind on my room you make me feel like a total slacker lol!!! Now that you put the credenza's in I totally agree that it looks perfect without the side bookcases.
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post #231 of 326
4/28/11 at 11:31pm
Thread Starter 
Here is a pic of the bracket I built for the Xbox Kinect.



I'd like to wrap it with the same black velvet material I used for the screen frame, but I can't find the remnants. Oh well, I painted it black, that will do for now. Do youu guys think I should hide the Kinect wire in the wall, or am I going overboard??? I think that when I build the stage, it would be a waste of time... We'll see.

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post #232 of 326
4/28/11 at 11:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheezit73 View Post

Xzener, Just absolutely awesome!!!!!!!!!! I am so behind on my room you make me feel like a total slacker lol!!! Now that you put the credenza's in I totally agree that it looks perfect without the side bookcases.

Thanks Cheezit,

I totally agree... Thanks for the feedback on that. Can't wait for my wife to sew me some curtains for the screen wall when she is out of school for the summer.
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post #233 of 326
4/29/11 at 3:47am
Wow! Very nicely done Xzener!
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post #234 of 326
6/19/11 at 8:19am
xzener- I left PM for you , Meanwhile anyone knows or any suggestion what kind of paint used here for sky then clouds.

Any info appreciated.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xzener View Post

Well, what do you guys think?? Am I ready for the star mural??

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post #235 of 326
6/19/11 at 9:29am
Xzener - The ceiling looks amazing. I've been debating back and forth between a painted ceiling and a fiber optic ceiling. I really like the look of the painted ones - they definitely look more realistic.
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post #236 of 326
6/19/11 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 
I used an exterior paint for both sky and clouds. Exterior paint has UV protection which keeps the blacklight from allowing them to glow. The stars really do look amazing. Good luck with your star mural.
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post #237 of 326
6/19/11 at 9:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xzener View Post

I used an exterior paint for both sky and clouds. Exterior paint has UV protection which keeps the blacklight from allowing them to glow. The stars really do look amazing. Good luck with your star mural.

I tried paint from Sherwin williams two days back and feels it is too dark so can you provide little more specific details like which store and which shade or color of the paint that you have used.

I checked your post earlier and understand that you have used rope lighting. When I tried to do the test run at my place it matches with some other post where you posted rope light diffusing effect.But you got very bright cloud here in this post which I like it, So the question is where does that much light coming for the clouds? So I am wondering you are using florescent lamp then rope light then black light to get the different mood ?

Thanks in advance.
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post #238 of 326
6/21/11 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
I used Valspar High Def flat base, and found a swatch that looked like a sky blue. Don't recall the actuall color name. The clouds were painted with Valspar too, just a flat base. Make sure they are UV protected paint, you don't want the sky/clouds glowing in the black light.

As far as the cloud brightness.... That picture was taken with a flash. My rope lighting (not in use ATM) was bought at Lowes.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
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post #239 of 326
6/21/11 at 10:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xzener View Post

I used Valspar High Def flat base, and found a swatch that looked like a sky blue. Don't recall the actuall color name. The clouds were painted with Valspar too, just a flat base. Make sure they are UV protected paint, you don't want the sky/clouds glowing in the black light.

As far as the cloud brightness.... That picture was taken with a flash. My rope lighting (not in use ATM) was bought at Lowes.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Love the ceiling....!
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post #240 of 326
6/21/11 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xzener View Post

I used Valspar High Def flat base, and found a swatch that looked like a sky blue. Don't recall the actuall color name. The clouds were painted with Valspar too, just a flat base. Make sure they are UV protected paint, you don't want the sky/clouds glowing in the black light.

As far as the cloud brightness.... That picture was taken with a flash. My rope lighting (not in use ATM) was bought at Lowes.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks for the quick reply. Sure, I got few samples to try it out. I made a mistake of applying of paint last time directly on the ceiling to test it out which I need to cover it now with white coat then put the actual one.Damn!!!

I got some test board this time so going to try and pin it on the ceiling to see how it looks.
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