[T Richardson]

I finished my design work on my theater and will begin construction in June.


The room measures 12' x 23' x 8'


I will use insulshield on the lower walls and batting on the upper with GOM cloth all around. The screen wall will be framed and covered with acoustically transparent cloth so I can place my front speakers, subs and equipment behind the cloth walls.


The screen wall will be 36" from the wall to allow for easy access and hopefully great sound since the speakers won't be mounted in a wall.


The back row of seats will be on a 10" riser and the surround speakers will be mounted in the columns. The sound system will be 7.1


I still haven't decided on the projector but I will be using a 100" diagonal screen.


Here are a few images of the theater. Let me know what you think.
http://members.brazoria.net/memweb/m...on/theater.jpg
http://members.brazoria.net/memweb/m...n/theater1.jpg
http://members.brazoria.net/memweb/m...n/theater2.jpg
http://members.brazoria.net/memweb/m...n/theater3.jpg
http://members.brazoria.net/memweb/m...n/theater4.jpg
http://members.brazoria.net/memweb/m...n/theater5.jpg

 

[robertmee]

Very nice rendering...


If your end result looks like your design, you'll have a very cozy and professional looking theater.


Just curious, were you only able to fit 2 courses of 2 seats in this design because of the 3 foot front wall and the narrow width? I have similar dimensions, except 14.5' x 23', and I was hoping to have at least 6 to 8 seats plus I'm thinking about having an opening in the rear with bar seating on the opposite side for the casual viewer.

 

[Jim Mc]

Your design looks very nice. You did well to omit a soffit across the front. You might cover the rear door in fabric to match the walls. (I did mine and like the look.) Also I think you will want to pull the seating away from the wall. You will need to plan for small side tables for snacks and drinks. (The missing "element" in my theater.)


Please tell me how you did such great renderings.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Why render when you could have used real pictures?

 

[Toxarch]

Wow Dennis. Got any pictures of my future theater? I'd love to see what it's going to look like.

 

[T Richardson]

Thanks for the comments guys.


Robert, I could probably fit 3 chairs in the front. The back row is elevated and will only fit 2 chairs do to the width of the the theater and riser.


Jim, the rear seats are 20" from the back wall. Thats about all I could squeeze out of them and keep the viewing distance of the front row at 12' from the screen. Jim you make a good point about tables, I will have to work on that one. The renders are done with 3D Studio MAX. I have a total of about 10 hours in the modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering of what you see.


I am considering offering rendering services for folks that are in the design process for their theaters. It can really help make important decisions about colors, fabrics and general design layout before you actually start to build. This can be done from a set of drawings or cad file or even a simple sketch. I am not a theater designer like Dennis Erskine, but I can show you what the final theater will look like. Doing mine was a hell of a lot of fun, by the way. After seeing the renders my wife gave me full approval to start construction since she now knows what the theater will look like.


Dennis, I won't deny that some of the ideas for my theater came from several of the theaters I've seen on the net that you designed. Your designs are quite beautiful and practical. But I spoke with many different folks about theater designs and the vast majority recommended columns and soffetts to help with sound control.


I hope you are not offended by my design because my intention was not to copy one of yours to beat you out of a design fee. I combined many ideas from many different sources as well as a few of my own to arrive at what you see.


For anyone wishing to build a quality theater, I would highly recommend Dennis to do the actual design. His knowledge of acoustics is invaluable to achieve true sonic bliss in your home theater.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Toxarch:


If you want to see pictures of Mr. Richardson's completed theater, and how it is constructed, visit: http://www.avsforum.com/PhotoPost/in...er=627&thumb=1

 

[John G]

I was going to try to leave this one alone, but I think I will make some comments after all.


No disrespect intended to Tony (T. Richardson), but I would like to emphasize that approaching a theater design by picking and choosing design elements is like thinking you're going to build a racecar by putting racing stickers and a spoiler on your car. This theater has evolved from a room with a TV in it with green walls (see the original post), and everytime a comment was made, a new pretty picture came up. There was no engineering, or analysis of what the acoustic goal was (please feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken). The design elements are good, and the room is beautiful. I just wanted to point out, if you're going to spend the money on the construction of a dedicated theater, there is a significant benefit to having it built, tested, and designed professionally. If you like the thrill and satisfaction of building it yourself, which is most of us here, then by all means, build it yourself, and when it's done sit back, relax and enjoy it. Just keep in mind what your goal is. If you're looking to build a professional racecar, then you will need to seek professional assistance. If you're looking to build a great sounding theater, then you will need professional assistance. Just don't be fooled into thinking that building a spoiler and throwing it on your car is going to make it a racecar. Conversely, throwing columns and insulshield into a room isn't going to turn it into a great sounding theater.


Again, no disrespect intended, and I hope no one is offended by my words.

 

[T Richardson]

Dennis, if you look carefully at the renders I did and compare them to the pictures of the theater you are apparently accusing me of stealing, you will notice they are very different in actual layout, colors, moldings, riser, entry way,screen wall,equipment rack, etc.


I was unaware that columns, soffitts and lights were your original ideas for a theater. My apologies, I have seen them in other home theaters.


If I have offended any additional members of this forum by showing what I want my home theater to look like, I am sorry.

 

[robertmee]

I think using parts of other people's designs and ideas can be the sincerest form of flattery. Given that, I do agree with John, that copying elements of different designs may not yield a satisfactory product, but if I like the color scheme of another HT enthusiests room, I have no quandries about using it in mine. And unless I'm grossly mistaken, I don't think most users here would mind either.

 

[E. Martin]

Looks very nice....


JIM MC... What is the draw back to a front soffit? I happen to have one and am dry walling this weekend. I do not have a preference one way or the other I built it for the looks. Is there a performance issue I am not aware of?


Thanks!

 

[Jim Mc]

E. Martin,

I too built the soffit across the front. Drywalled it. Mudded it. Painted it. Stood back and hated it. Then tore it down and redid the front with only a very small 1.5" step down compared to the middle 3" step down from the rear. So if the ceiling over the seating is full height the ceiling slightly in front of you is down 3" and just in front of the screen it is down a total of 4.5".


By removing the soffit which was at the same drop size as the sides up front, I was able to raise my projector and screen to maximize headroom under the projector and viewablility of the lower screen area from the second row. My screen is several inches higher than what had been the bottom of the front soffit and is still the bottom of the side soffits up front.


This pic shows pretty well what I am struggling to describe. You can also see I stepped the sides down in the front as well. This was done for two reasons I had some large ductwork up front, screen right, that would have been very hard to replumb but I still needed to clear the theater entry door. Also I believe the stepping down, back to front, gives the illusion of looking down from higher up in a theater.

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?U...id=77471081303

 

[T Richardson]

John


I take no offense to what you say and I agree completely. That is why I recommended Dennis in the earlier post for his experience and skill in designing a theater with excellent acoustics.


I am interested in doing the project myself and no doubt will run into a few problems because of that. Such is life.


I appreciate everyones input, this is how we learn and I have learned a lot from the members of this forum and others. As you pointed out, the design has changed considerably since my first post. It was pretty bad. Hopefully, I can put what I've learned to good use in building my theater.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. At what point imitation infringes upon copyright protection of original work is a subject I never care to get into (and, I refuse to be dragged into that conversation). By the same token, I am not, and have not, suggested there's a theft of work going on. In fact, if anyone is to be 'miffed' it would be the individual that paid for the original work.


None-the-less, I do believe John expressed it best. I do believe in determining the 'look and feel' of your home theater, you owe it to yourself to see what others have done ... to put together those things you like and eliminate those you do not like. Having done that, not seeking professional assistance could turn out to be an expensive proposition. For example, while column sizes are partially driven by speaker dimensions, the size and placement of sofits and columns is driven by acoustic models...not whim.


Of course, I have a certain bias about the desirability of professional advice.

 

[Mattman]

TRich-

I wish I had your talent for 3D so I could get a sense of what my design is going to look like in the end. Drawing it out on paper gives you an idea but those renders are sweet. Like you I have studied the theaters that I've found here and in other places like AVI to come up with my design. I'm thankful that we all have a place where we can swap ideas and inspiration and I appreciate all the knowledge that I've gained from the members on this site.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Good 3D renders are very helpful in conceptualizing the end product. Both TRich and Mario have done first class jobs. As was noted, it is time consuming and (good rendering) requires rather pricey software. The learning curves can be rather daunting as well; but, for those with the time, desire and access to the software, it's quite a ride.

 

[Mattman]

How long did it take to do those renders and what software did you use?

 

[PatVan]

After reading HT construction articles for several years, I thought

I could build a decent home theater. During the past few months of

lurking on this forum, I've learned I hadn't even scratched the surface

of this topic.


Dennis, have you considered offering a home theater construction

course? With the growth of the HT industry (maybe I'm over-speculating),

it seems there would be plenty of new HTs to support an army of

"Mini-DEs", without impacting your business.


Those of us who respect intellectual property would be happy to

pay for annual or per-usage licenses to use your design elements,

modeling, and calibration techniques.


Kind regards,

Pat

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Yes, Pat, I have. There are two projects in the works:


1. DVD/CD-ROM video in the on building and constructing a room; and,

2. There is a project in Atlanta that I may use as an instructional course where we'll build and calibrate a theater as part of the course work. .. including the fabric installation.


There are some sponsorships we need to obtain to pull this off; however.

 

[JeffGZX9]

Hey! I'm in (or near) Atlanta! Hmmmmm....


I guess I'd have known if it was my theater though. Hopefully I'll start building soon.