Sandmans Home Theater Construction Begins! - Page 8

I keep getting questions by email and PMs from people asking me to explain in more detail how to Build these star Panels, so I'm going to try this one more time (with Some New additional pictures).

I will also show you how I did the shooting stars in random sections of the Panels as well.

First, Measure your ceiling. Then go to http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Ceiling.htm and give them your measurements so they can hook you up with the Fibers and Light Boxes to build your Fiber optic ceiling.

I wanted all my panels to be fairly easy to put up and be square so I made them 44" x 44" to fit 12 panels on my ceiling (3 across and 4 from front to back).

For my size Panels, I could get 2 Panels out of one sheet of 4' x 8' x 1/4" Masonite Board. So I bought 6 Sheets of 4' x 8' Masonite Board and had Home Depot cut them to size. So now I have 12 44" x 44" x 1/4" Masonite boards.

We then Marked out a Grid with 11" x 11" Squares. This grid is to help place holes for Stars. You really dont want to do more than 4 holes per square Foot to keep it looking realistic.

See the Masonite board with the Grid and Black dots that represent star placement below...



Next Drill your holes where you marked your stars using a 1/16" drill Bit. We ordered fiber cable that has 50 Fibers in the Cable, so each panel ended up having 50 stars to limit 1 Fiber cable per panel for ease.

Next, we framed out the panels using 1" x 2"s to make the panels more sturdy and to have something to staple the Fabric to. We used 3/4" Staples to attach the Masonite Board to the Framing. We set the air gun so the staples inset a little deeper so they do not stick out and show through the fabric.

Notice the Framing around the edges of the Panels in the Picture below (Ignore the Fibers in this Picture for Now)...



Next, We pre-cut 12 50" x 50" pieces of Black GoM Fabric to have ready to Wrap the panels. We then Sprayed a light coat of 3M #80 Spray Adhesive to the First Panel and then Stretched the GoM Fabric over the Top of it and smoothed it out by hand. We then pulled the fabric tighly and began stapling with 1/2" staples. Each panel used about 4 refills of staples.

Here is the Wrapped panel (we did 12 of these panels).



Next we figured and measured our fiber cable runs and Pre-cut all our fiber cable and labled them. We then cut about 48" of the sleeve off each cable to route each fiber to each hole.



Then we Stapled the Cable to the framing of the Panel to prevent it from pulling fibers out of the holes (the 3 other cables you see stapled are for the Shooting Star, but we will get to that later)...

Next you feed your fibers through your holes. Since the Panel is already wrapped with fabric, it's best to twist the fiber as you feed it through the hole to help break through the fabric. Its also easier and faster to have someone on the other Side of the Panel to pull the fiber all the way through as you feed the fibers through.

When your done feeding all your fibers through, you will end up with something like this...

The Back Side...



The Front Side...



Next, Hot Glue your Fibers to the back of your Panel. I like to use a small glue gun set on low heat to do this...



Once all your fibers are glued In place, you can then begin clipping them off on the Fabric side using standard Nail Clippers. You Can make some Fibers Longer than others to get a brighter looking star (instead of doubling up fibers to get brighter Stars)...



Almost Done Clipping...



Now Hook it up to your light box and wallah....



Now to do a shooting star...

http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/ makes an LED Device that can program Shooting Stars, Fireworks, etc. Its a little over $200.00. What you do is buy some 8 Strand Fiber cable and Mark your shooting star placement on your panel using a Ruler and making each hole 1" apart from each other. I did 24 Holes and used 3 - 8 Strand fiber cables to help identify which fiber goes where...

(Notice the 3 thinner cables with 8 fibers coming out of each of them, this is my shooting star on this panel)...



Here is the other side of the panel before clipping the Shooting Star Fibers...



Here is the Fibers Clipped. They Range from 1/4" on one end to just below the fabric on the other to give the burning out effect.



So Hopefully this helps people understand how to do this a little better Now...

Enjoy!
Ruben

No Recessed Lighting In the Starfield. The Recessed lighting will be in the Soffits around the room. The Room is Pitch Black in the Daytime (No Windows in this Room).

Ruben

Here is the FabricMate System I was thinking of Going with. Its a Decision Between this and Stapled Framed Panels for Me. I threw together a Sloppy Fast Sample to show it.

Like BPape Said, the Ceiling is treated to take care of the reflection points. The Ceiling and Light Trays are now finished and look awesome! The Light Trays/Soffits just need to be Paper Faced and Covered with the GoM now.

Pictures coming soon.

Fabricmate.com is where the track system is from. THey Charge $2.95 a foot for Small orders and the Price Drops to $2.50 a foot when you buy 200 Feet or More.

Here are some Pictures of the Completed Star Ceiling and Light trays as promised. All the Wires and Cables will be all organized and Stapled down as soon as the Columns are ready to go up, It's a bit messy now

Here is a shot from the rear left corner of the theater.
THis Picture is with all the work lights on in the Theater. I took this shot to show how the seams on the panels look when full lighting is on. The Seams are completely invisable under Low light and no light. We may still do a small Coffered look to cover the Seams and to give the room more of a Classy look.
The Angle is kind of funky due to the Wide Angle Lens I was using..



Here is the Same Shot with the Lights off...



Here is a shot from the Side Door of the Theater walking in...

Lights On...



Lights Off...



Here is a shot of the Front of the Theater above the Stage with the Lights On..



Here is a closer shot of the 2 light boxes that control the Ceiling. They will be hidden inside the Columns that will be on that Wall there...



If anyone is interested, I have a good amount of Fiber Left from this job and would sell it at a discounted price. PM me if interested.

Ruben

Thanks,

Not Really Much. But even so, the Light Boxes are dimmable so when a movie is playing we can dim the Stars with the Grafik Eye. We ran a dedicated line to those light boxes to control them. We actually ran dedicated lines to all the Different Lights and Outlets we want to control separately with the Grafik Eye.

Ruben

Thanks,

Keep in Mind, this is a Movie Theater only and will be only used for Watching movies During the Day & Night and occaisonal Music Listening as well. There is going to be 11 35watt Downlights in the Soffits plus Possibly Sconces on the Columns (If I decide I like that look) also Light in the Light Tray that wraps the whole starfield ceiling.

There will be enough Lighting to clean up, thats for sure. Hey If not, I can always Install a big White 4 Bulb Flourescent Light fixture in the Middle of the Starfield Ceiling and that should handle the job.

Ruben

We used a brad nailer with finishing nails to secure them to the Furring strips on the Ceiling. The Nails are invisable and I cant even find them with all the work lights on.

Me Too, When I first Started Building these panels I had no idea what to expect. But I figured if it doesn't work Out, I can always just trash the Idea and lose some money.

But Man, let me tell you, I'm So Happy I stuck with it and it worked out. It is absolutely breath Taking when you walk in the room with the Lights out and the Stars on. There is even shooting stars I set up which I tried Out that make it even more Realistic! The stars also have a slight Twinkle so its not just a bunch of Stars with no life. This will Definately be one of the Main attractions of the Theater and talk of town that's for Sure.

Ruben

Saturday we will be Veneering the Light Trays Front and Bottom. Going to Stain some Oak and Maple and see what I like Better. I will Post some pictures after the Veneering is done.

Ruben