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Potential New Room

Blackdevil77

Active member
One of the best things I got from college was free AutoCAD. I used it to design my current theater room in the basement. While that theater room came out great, I hate the low ceilings and would like something bigger.
We're going to be putting an extension on our house to make a new/larger living room. My wife also wants a playroom for the kids. That's when I had this genius idea. I'll make a new theater room on a 2nd story above the extension, and the current theater room can become the playroom. The 2nd floor above the extension should be 30x19, which would mirror the floor below. Goal is 12' ceilings, as long as local codes allow for it, which I imagine they would/should.

Here's what I came up with playing around with AutoCAD. These drawings use my JBL M2's as mains, my current JBL 5628 subs, my current SCL-4 side surrounds. I added SCL-2 surrounds for the rear surrounds and added some ULF subs behind the screen since they would now fit :D

Left a subtle hint as to which projector I would like to get ;)
 

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Two questions:
  1. Is the mystery projector supposed to go in the theatre (pic 1) or behind it (2?)
  2. Will the bowling ball in the back row be offended you are checking for light reflection off their baldspot?
 
I think the first row is to close to the screen, making it more or less unusable.
I would move the second row (which i guess is the main seating row) 1-2ft closer to the screen, move the first row behind the master row and get rid of the the "cheap seats" third row.
That would give a much more spacious and luxury feeling. As it is planned right now, it´s overcrowded. A common mistake a lot of people do: they try to squeeze to many seats into a room, making even a large room like yours look overcrowded.
Same goes for the # of seats per row. If you´re going for 5 seats/row, i´ll add 2 extra ft to the room width. If that´s not possible, better go for 4 seats/row. Keep in mind you need a bit less than 1ft per side wall for speakers and acoustical treatment.
Plus i would make the raised floor a bit higher to prevent sight obstruction.

In terms of projector, even a GTZ380 might be not bright enough (at least for HDR content or 3D if you´re into that), depending on your viewing preferences. We´re aiming for 250Nits at least for HDR, which would not be possible with a GTZ380 on a 17' screen.

Just my 2 cents over a Saturday morning coffee.
 
Two questions:
  1. Is the mystery projector supposed to go in the theatre (pic 1) or behind it (2?)
  2. Will the bowling ball in the back row be offended you are checking for light reflection off their baldspot?

Behind it, I attached the wrong pic. Ideally I want the equipment and projector behind the room. If I'm allowed to have a 4'x12' bump out past the addition below somehow, that's the route I want to go.

The bowling ball takes it on the chin, no offense taken.
 

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I think the first row is to close to the screen, making it more or less unusable.
I would move the second row (which i guess is the main seating row) 1-2ft closer to the screen, move the first row behind the master row and get rid of the the "cheap seats" third row.
That would give a much more spacious and luxury feeling. As it is planned right now, it´s overcrowded. A common mistake a lot of people do: they try to squeeze to many seats into a room, making even a large room like yours look overcrowded.
Same goes for the # of seats per row. If you´re going for 5 seats/row, i´ll add 2 extra ft to the room width. If that´s not possible, better go for 4 seats/row. Keep in mind you need a bit less than 1ft per side wall for speakers and acoustical treatment.
Plus i would make the raised floor a bit higher to prevent sight obstruction.

In terms of projector, even a GTZ380 might be not bright enough (at least for HDR content or 3D if you´re into that), depending on your viewing preferences. We´re aiming for 250Nits at least for HDR, which would not be possible with a GTZ380 on a 17' screen.

Just my 2 cents over a Saturday morning coffee.

The rows of 5 still allow for 3 feet of space on each side. The acoustic treatments will likely come from Quest. They spec-ed out the treatments for my current theater room and all of the treatments on the side walls are 2" thick. Room sounds great and measures great.

First row is 11' from the screen, so it would be extreme. 2nd row and MLP viewing distance is a bit over 18' and the viewing angle is about 51 degrees from the MLP, which is pretty high. Moving closer would make the viewing angle even more extreme. I like that level of immersion so it doesn't bother me. Front row would be for kids lol.

As far as the number of seats, I like to entertain. There were times I had enough guests over to fill all of these seats. Current theater is much smaller than this and I have 10 seats in it. It's a personal preference thing. This design is extremely similar to this room (same dimensions) with some differences.


I used the calculator on projector central, this is what they came up with. Throw is about 28'
 

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OK, regarding # of seats: sure, client preference is always prime.
We usually cover the whole walls, hiding the speakers. That´s the reason why we usually need more depth for the side walls.

Regarding projector calculation:
Looks reasonable. 51fL is ~175Nits. Which is more than enough for SDR-content, but HDR/3D would highly benefit from having more Nits. Plus you need to take into account that the laser would be running at 100% to reach the 51fL. We like to plan with a bit more headroom.
But also screen brightness is a lot based on personal preference.
 
OK, regarding # of seats: sure, client preference is always prime.
We usually cover the whole walls, hiding the speakers. That´s the reason why we usually need more depth for the side walls.

Regarding projector calculation:
Looks reasonable. 51fL is ~175Nits. Which is more than enough for SDR-content, but HDR/3D would highly benefit from having more Nits. Plus you need to take into account that the laser would be running at 100% to reach the 51fL. We like to plan with a bit more headroom.
But also screen brightness is a lot based on personal preference.

That’s how I have it now covering the speakers. My speakers are SCL-4 in walls (surrounds)

The projector isn’t set in stone. I’m told there’s a competitive offering from Christie that’s brighter, but may give up some contrast.
 
That’s how I have it now covering the speakers. My speakers are SCL-4 in walls (surrounds)
Ah, that makes sense. I wasn´t aware the SCL-4 are in-walls.
The projector isn’t set in stone. I’m told there’s a competitive offering from Christie that’s brighter, but may give up some contrast.
Yes, exactly. We´re using modified versions of the Christie M-4K25 and the Griffyn. On/Off contrast is less than the Sony, but overall image is just awesome.
 
Just my 2 cents over a Saturday morning coffee.
I love this so much… this is how I envision every one of us forum members. Love you all!!

And love this thread. I don’t have a lot to offer but want to know when it’s done and when I’m invited.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Definitely put the projector and equipment in another room! I can’t stand projector fan and rack fan noise. The best audio upgrade that I‘ve done is put fan noise emitting components in another room. I got a custom made framed glass from hometheater glass.com to cover my projector port hole (no need for the double panel gala IMO. Single pane glass was fine for me).

Funny but an even number of seats per row is more harmonious than an odd number. People are always jockeying for the center seat when there’s an odd number of seats per row. My kids always argue on who gets the middle seat in the second row. Also, the more sears, the further off axis it will be for the end seats. So, design for the common use and not the more rare special event use.
 
Definitely put the projector and equipment in another room! I can’t stand projector fan and rack fan noise. The best audio upgrade that I‘ve done is put fan noise emitting components in another room. I got a custom made framed glass from hometheater glass.com to cover my projector port hole (no need for the double panel gala IMO. Single pane glass was fine for me).

Funny but an even number of seats per row is more harmonious than an odd number. People are always jockeying for the center seat when there’s an odd number of seats per row. My kids always argue on who gets the middle seat in the second row. Also, the more sears, the further off axis it will be for the end seats. So, design for the common use and not the more rare special event use.
I agree, having all the gear in a separate room is best for sure. That’s how I currently have it done in my much smaller room. I have a port window as well in my current room.

I like the odd number of seats for that reason. At least for the row where the MLP will be. I want a seat dead center. The more common use would be the center 3 seats per row. The far flanking seats are for the occasional large viewings.
 
Played around a little with the 3D design. Never did 3D before, took me a while to figure out but it looks cool. I didn't make all the speakers 3D, just the front channels

 
Quick comment to your video:
It seems you´re using "parallel projection" in your 3D software which gives a distorted view of your model. There should be an option to switch to "perspective" view (or similarly named).
 
Quick comment to your video:
It seems you´re using "parallel projection" in your 3D software which gives a distorted view of your model. There should be an option to switch to "perspective" view (or similarly named).

I'll dig around and try and find it. I took a 101 class with AutoCAD in college, I'm very far from a pro lol. Still a great tool to map things out and see if things will fit. I'm figuring out the layers now to, I can build the whole room stud by stud, sheetrock, etc and piece it all together virtually. In the hands of an experienced professional, I can see how this is an extremely powerful tool.

Found very realistic looking M2's to import though yesterday.
 

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