My Journey of Building a Home Theatre

[vinay]

Windows In A Dedicated Movie Room

Hello Venkatcr,

Well all the more grime is more applicable to people who have windows and fans, so this becomes one more reason not to have windows as far as a dedicated movie room is concerned.

Indeed cinema halls have professional cleaners which we all know, i have been saying all this while that it all depends how you treat and manage the movie room, which can be done with zero help from professionals, so once again moral of the story is loud and clear that if theatre's can survive without windows and light with great ease, then a movie room in apartment can surely survive.

On the other hand there is hardly any maintenance cost, and to keep the movie room clean on regular basis is no big deal.

Indeed many of them want to have something to eat while watching a movie which is surely good but i think in a different way on this, i would rather take a proper interval and come to the living room, on the lights and sit on a sofa or dining table have whatever i want, be it tea, juice, snacks, fruits, lunch, dinner, etc, with this practice there is no scope to dirty the movie room in any form, i call this killing 2 birds with one stone.

I must salute aleskar, at least he was considering to have no windows but the myth took over that without windows a theatre is not good on said counts. I would say the other way, let us assume that there are some drawbacks, one needs to look at the larger picture, benefits are much larger with hardly any drawbacks for not having windows.

V.

 

[vinay]

Sub Woofer

About the placement of sub woofer (sw), be assured you can not decide where it will be placed, sw will decide on it's own, when you experiment it in different areas of the room.

You will need to borrow long cable if any of the member has at your end, once it is decided where the sw has to be placed then you can take the shorter or longer cable.

V.

Re placement of sub woofer, it will be in the corner of front and left walls, which i had shown it in the sketch.
Regards

 

[vinay]

Well with windows or not, it is not only the sound quality point of view which has to be considered, a very crucial thought has to be given that one has to go as near as possible to a theatre, so windows has to be avoided on war footing.

Further i think at the best you can go for shutters and related, as long as windows are invisible. While please be assured curtains can never add grace to a dedicated movie room even if they are studded with diamonds, but still if one wants them then it is way better to go for acoustic curtains, then normal one's available in the market. About the light and ventilation, i though the issue is no more there, if theatres can do without it, then for sure we can do it, let there be no doubt about this.

The journey ahead is very exciting, but it is going to keep you on your toes if one needs a dynamic theatre, many tough calls have to be taken etc, like in my case the journey went on for more then a year.

V.

Re window or not! I need to know whether, from sound quality point of view, shuttered/acoustically treated window is better or acoustically curtained window is better?
Re sunlight, i can always design the shutters of the window in such manner they can slide open/ swing open when HT is not in use, so that light and ventilation can happen.

Thanks guys! it is an exciting journey indeed.

 

[vinay]

God

Well these are very vital points which venkatcr is raising, if these factors are ignored or not handled well then god can also not save a movie room.

In view to all these and many other issues, no wonder i took the mother of a tough call, i made a dedicated room for my mini theatre, where there is strict activity only of projector based or music. I had the option to make my theatre in the living room but there would have been a bee line of mess.

Indeed everyone has some issues which can not be tackled, but many a times there are ways out direct or in-direct, but we do not handle them well.

V.

Since this room is going to serve a dual purpose of being a guest room as well as a HT room, there are other issues such as screen management and equipment handling that also have to be considered. How much ever you say, unless you can restrict entry into the room to just yourself, equipment will be touched, screens will be felt and so on. All that will lead to issues such as smudges on the screen, and your equipment being mishandled.

 

[vinay]

Bath

Well life is one joke, it is nice to know that you are not from the camp of vaastu, it seems many of them focus a lot on things like vaastu and related but may not handle well their day to day activity. There is always no end to breach, i know of a guy who does not have bath on regular basis because he feels his career will slide.

V.

Even i don't believe in Vaastu et all. Everything I said in the first part of my previous post was just to a jokehyeah:.

 

[vinay]

Very well said, sometimes it will be nothing like it to kill the snake and stick also should not break. If there is no windows then there is no question of light leaking in, etc etc.

If one does not have windows or if they are not visible then, aesthetic wise it will be trillion times better and that is a another story that there is a mother of windfall that one will arrive much closer to a true movie room.

V.

In summary one need not go overboard in trying to make a window disappear (best is not to have one) but adding some thick curtains will not only resolve the issue but will help in aesthetics as well. I would be more worried about light spillage from a window rather than its acoustic properties.
Sid

 

[alsekar]

Re: Sub Woofer

About the placement of sub woofer (sw), be assured you can not decide where it will be placed, sw will decide on it's own, when you experiment it in different areas of the room.

You will need to borrow long cable if any of the member has at your end, once it is decided where the sw has to be placed then you can take the shorter or longer cable.

V.

Thanks Vinay for the enlightenment! I stand corrected.
Regards

 

[vinay]

It is very true that low frequencies is likely to create a big problem, this is what even i have been saying and god forbid if we have to watch a movie with wardrobe open because there may be no choice, then it is better in considering to shelve making a movie room.

I tell you guys one very crucial thing, my original plan was to make a theatre cum office, but during the making i realized it will not be a good move, by the time i realized this i had already purchased some office furniture worth Rs.1,50,000/-, guess what, the said furniture in-directly went waste as no more the office is there in my theatre, so sometimes we have to under go such surgeries to remove the kidney that too without Anastasia.

I had always been very clear, that to achieve desired results of a true theatre, i will sacrifice near about anything, and the end results are for everyone to see.

V.

I would be very concerned about a wardrobe in a HT. One option if the wardrobe is unavoidable, is to open the wardrobe doors when you are using the room.
Cheers
Sid

 

[alsekar]

The journey ahead is very exciting, but it is going to keep you on your toes if one needs a dynamic theatre, many tough calls have to be taken etc, like in my case the journey went on for more then a year.

V.

The fact that you have to make tough calls is what makes it exciting, right!
And if the tough decisions prove right then it is divine!
If one or two decisions go awry, then it is hell.
But, then that's where experts like you, venkatcr, sid, et all come in and reduce the chance of failure.
I hope i will complete my HT by April 11 or so, unless, during the journey, i decide to go totally for building a separate room, in which case, it may go up to May-June.
regards

 

[alsekar]

Re: Bath

, i know of a guy who does not have bath on regular basis because he feels his career will slide.

V.

Ha, ha, :lol:
His career will not only slide, his friend circle will evoperate and he will hv only vaastu for company.

 

[vinay]

Invisible

Hello Santosh,

Well it is a mother of great move to have the windows invisible, this shows your power to be near a good movie room.

Indeed you are very right that a storage area should be avoided completely because this will be nothing short of humiliation to the movie room.

V.

I have two windows for which I have made an additional shutter

About having a storage area within the room, pls try and avoid it.

 

[vinay]

Maintanance - Windows Myth

Santosh,

Indeed ground realities sometimes are quite different then a general thought.

I also would like to keep my theatre door open all night but what happens is that the weight of my door is much more then a normal door and moreover the handle which i have on the door is very heavy and then the fear of some insects etc going into the room. On the other hand there is a lot of glass wool and carpet in the theatre, god forbid if fire catches in the living room, and if the theatre door is open fire will speed faster then a F-16 aircraft.

Well this is a good idea to keep the A/C on for a few minutes before entering in the room, additionally what i do is, once i am through with the movie, i keep the door open for a few minutes.

You are very right if done meticulously then there is no question that there will be problems without windows, actually what happens is that this is something very unusual to seal the windows so people are not ready to accept this great culture for a brilliant movie room. It is like someone who has great hair but shaves it off completely for good and on week-end's wear a wig.

In my case very often during Sunday's i am not around so i do not keep the door open, but the next day there is no odour other then 1%, so i am lucky on this while fungus and related never such a thing has happened in my room.

I have a in-direct window but still i never open it for sunlight because what if i forget to close it, and a pigeon or rain comes in during the season, moreover there is a lot of breeze on my 10th floor house, so there is dust going to come in for sure.

In reference to silica this is a great idea, i will buy them, from which kind of a store will it be available?

In my case too when i am travelling i also check if the door has been kept open or no while i am at home, the first thing i do in the morning is to keep the door open for about 30 minutes and the same i do before going to sleep.

Well it is good for sake of confidence and related value that you are getting sunshine into the room. In my case in a day once or twice i do open the theatre door and check if all the lights and A/C are well shut.

In my case i have never taken any of the equipments outside to clean for the simple reason that they are minimum but what i do is bring the equipments ahead and clean the area there and then while you have several gadgets and it occupies better space, so you need to take them out so that the underneath is cleaned. I clean my lazy boy recliner with dove soap.

V.

 

[vinay]

Windows

Well if the discussion is tilting towards retaining the windows then i would get up and say that for sure it is due to wrong and unfounded reasons.

I think the wardrobe has only one choice, that it has to be evicted.

V.

Re Windows-I think the discussion is tilting towards retaining the window and provide heavy curtains which will definitely add to the interiors.
Re Wardrobe/ timber cabinet- The discussion is tilting towards avoiding them.

 

[vinay]

Mistakes

Well we all go wrong at some point or the other.

I have done some major mistakes during the making of my mini theatre, but i was fortunate enough that many a times i realized, but during certain occasions it was too late, and i had to loose enough monies in order to rectify the situation.

V.

Thanks Vinay for the enlightenment! I stand corrected.

 

[vinay]

Planning

Indeed to make tough calls is very exciting, this is the best way to go forward but often for better results risks also grow, if we benefit with our plan and share with others then all the more it becomes great, a new avenue gets opened, otherwise one may not have dared to venture. If some calls go wrong, then we all do realize that we have to pay the price otherwise it will bottle us up.

Well there is no doubt that we forum members are very good with sharing the ideas, which will be very difficult even for a professional to match.

I think your room surgery is of very high risk therefore it will be any day better if you choose a separate room, no matter how much ever is the delay it will be fine after all these things are made once or twice in a life time.

V.

The fact that you have to make tough calls is what makes it exciting, right!
And if the tough decisions prove right then it is divine!
If one or two decisions go awry, then it is hell.
But, then that's where experts like you, venkatcr, sid, et all come in and reduce the chance of failure.
I hope i will complete my HT by April 11 or so, unless, during the journey, i decide to go totally for building a separate room, in which case, it may go up to May-June.
regards

 

[vardu]

Re: Maintanance - Windows Myth

Santosh,

Indeed ground realities sometimes are quite different then a general thought.

I also would like to keep my theatre door open all night but what happens is that the weight of my door is much more then a normal door and moreover the handle which i have on the door is very heavy and then the fear of some insects etc going into the room. On the other hand there is a lot of glass wool and carpet in the theatre, god forbid if fire catches in the living room, and if the theatre door is open fire will speed faster then a F-16 aircraft.


V.

If I am not mistaken glass wool is non-flammable and worst case the plastic around it might decompose from heat.

If the carpet is genuine wool then :sos:

 

[vinay]

Glass Wool - Carpet

Well thanks for the important writing.

From the person whom i had bought the glass wool (gw), their office had told me that during fire gw can create havoc and this was also told by some interior guy, i wish there was some spare gw with me so that i could test it.

On the other hand i think the gw you are referring to, could be something different, as in my gw there is nothing like plastic with it.

About the carpet, i think you are right that wool will flame much more.

I thank you again for the information.

V.

 

[alsekar]

Re: Planning

...I think the wardrobe has only one choice, that it has to be evicted.

V.

...I think your room surgery is of very high risk therefore it will be any day better if you choose a separate room, no matter how much ever is the delay it will be fine after all these things are made once or twice in a life time.

V.

Thanks vinay
I have decided to do away with the wardrobe/storage cabinet idea.
And that leaves the budget meant for carpentry free and i am thinking whether to build a room on the terrace with that money exclusively for HT.
I am working on the estimate, and i also have to see whether it is within FSI, I will post my decision after the working out the estimate.
Thanks to all the members who had contributed to make this decision
Regards

 

[vinay]

Right Track

Well it is a brilliant step to do away with the wardrobe and storage cabinet. On the other hand it is very interesting to note that you are considering to abort the movie room in question.

I am sure you are on right track to consider the movie room on your terrace, by taking this step you will realize sooner then later that with one stone, you are killing many birds, this will be a mother of achievement, a double congratulations for the thought.

In the event if you realize there are more then 50% chances that terrace could be the movie zone, then do share details of such area.

While i will strongly suggest that do not even think to buy now the audio and video gadgets because there are good chances that your movie room will not be ready before the mid of next year.

V.

 

[venkatcr]

Re: Right Track

you are killing many birds, this will be a mother of achievement, a double congratulations for the thought.

Vinay, you are becoming very aggressive and violent. Why do you want to kill the poor birds when they are already a vanishing breed? For example, I do not see any sparrows in Chennai any more.

Just joking .

Cheers