WarrenP's Outdoor Theater

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[WarrenP]

Hey folks, here are some photos of our outdoor theater. I have a really long two-page site that you can check out if you wish to read aevey detail of building the theater, right here:
http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/outdoor-theater.htm


I went with a full 16x9 foot screen, and hooked up the full 5.1 surround sound, even including the LFE to the subs! Almsot every single adult there commented on how great the sound was, it was great. 


Here are the pics. First, a shot of where the theater will go. This is about a half acre and wide open. The hillside is nice as it will allow us to have a pretty big crowd, if we ever need to.




Here is a diagram that shows the basic structure that will support the screen:




Here is the followup diagram that shows where the screen is located on the support structure:




I have an unusual screen design, in that the center section is fixed and the sides fold onto the center. So, even though it looks like the whole frame is glued together it isn't. This diagram shows where the pieces are dry-fit and not glued together:

[WarrenP]

(I'm not sure how many images or big each post can be, so I'm breaking this up a bit.)

Here is a shot of the screen installed:



It is only a few minutes to install, because the frame of the screen is attached to teh vertical supports with tie straps. All the weight of the screen (which isn't that much) rests on the 4x4 posts, and the tie straps hold the screen plenty tight.




It is true that I cut off and throw away the staps after each show, but the cost is so small for a solution that takes less than a minute. That's worth it to me. If you look for these, the big tie straps are in the HVAC part of hardware stores.

Here is the installed screen from the back:




Just another angle from the side / back:







 

[WarrenP]

Still going... 

Here are my two daughters enjoying their photo shoot in front of the screen:




I needed a solution for my surround speakers. The lot is sloped, and I needed to properly adjust the height of the speakers. I used some contractor's levels that I had from antother project, and this solved the problem perfectly:




Here is an overview shot of the whole setup. I'm up about halfway on the hillside. To give you an idea of scale, the screen is about 30 feet to the "equipment rack", and the surrounds are about 30 feet from the rack as well.

[WarrenP]

Let's keep it going! 

This is a shot just before dusk (about 15 minutes after this is when the first guests arrived). The pic is the menu of an intro disc I put together (if you use Nero you probably recognize the menu!) Even this early in the evening, the picture was very bright. I'm using a Panny AE-900U as my projector.




Here is a shot later in the night of the Animusic DVD Menu. I moved a bit while the picture was taken, so there is some blurriness, in realty the picture was amazing. I'll be using a tripod for the pics next time.




When it was all done, the screen was folded and stored in the garage. It takes maybe 6-7 minutes to take the entire screen down and store it in the garage.




OK, if you have any questions, please post away. I try to check here once a day (but am rarely online on teh weekends.)

I tried to detail every step on my site, which is: http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/outdoor-theater.htm, so feel free to read that story if you so desire.

Have a great day!

[Cherry Hills]

That's a fine looking setup you've made, Warren.

Do you have to do anything special to get the wrinkles out of the screen fabric, after it's been stored folded?

[victor-eyd]

Man, I love that house and that yard is awesome.

Oh yeah, nice screen setup too

Victor

[hiredpower]

Looking good Warren.

You have the perfect slope for viewing.

[WarrenP]

The folded part of the screen isn't folded tight, so it doesn't get a line or crease in it. I'm using the screen material from b-adeals.com and it doesn't wrinkle at all. I do get some lines where I don't have the material pulled perfectly even, but I'm the only one who notices those.

I'll be very interested to see how it looks in the Spring, after it sits for months and months. If it were ever to get some lines from folding, that would be the time!

That's a fine looking setup you've made, Warren.

Do you have to do anything special to get the wrinkles out of the screen fabric, after it's been stored folded?

[WarrenP]

Thanks for the nice comments about the house. I'm still finishing it, lots of work. My wife and I took on the role of General Contractor, and we did all the electrical, HVAC, plumbing, etc... pretty much all of the house except for concrete, framing, roofing, windows/doors, and drywall.

Yeah, the yard is great, we an open half acre on either side. There is one annoying streetlight that keeps me from putting the screen where I really wanted it, so sooner or later I'll need to plant some nice trees and move the screen into the ideal position.

Thanks for the kind words.

Man, I love that house and that yard is awesome.

Oh yeah, nice screen setup too

Victor

[gdmanry]

Nice setup Warren!

Wasn't there a thread on here somewhere discussing how to "handle"  those annoying streetlights? 

I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

Welcome!  You're in it now.....

gdm

[Cherry Hills]

Yeah, the best suggestion (and the one that wouldn't get you arrested) was aiming a laser pointer at the daylight sensor, then taping it onto a pole so it stays aimed. When your movie it done, you turn it off and the light goes back on.

[rfisk]

That laser pointer idea still cracks me up.  I really need to test that.

Great setup, Warren!  And GREAT job of documenting things.  Thanks for posting here.

House remodeling is fun.  Been there.  Still doing that.  Feels like I always will be.

Welcome aboard!

Randy

[WarrenP]

I might just have to try that laser pointer idea! Thank you for the kind words.

Did you read the full documentation on my site, or just the pics here? I thought some folks might like the full step by step, so I tried to photo and document everything. I hope people might find that of some use.

You're right, no house is ever really "done". As soon as I get the deck done, then I have to get my office finished, then the basement drop ceiling, then blah blah blah... But, it sure is fun. 

That laser pointer idea still cracks me up.  I really need to test that.

Great setup, Warren!  And GREAT job of documenting things.  Thanks for posting here.

House remodeling is fun.  Been there.  Still doing that.  Feels like I always will be.

Welcome aboard!

Randy

[WarrenP]

It's been a while since posting, but I wanted to let folks know that after storing the screen "folded" like that all Winter, it was perfectly fine during the first show of the Spring.

I am considering a enw screen setup however, I want to go bigger! I need to create/find a solution that will allow me to go bigger, and still have a quick setup/teardown... I'm on the lookout, if you know of a big screen, 24x10 feet is what I'm thinking, with a quick setup and teardown, please let me know!