The theater, where it begins.

Copper bolts...

...and screws.

I cut and formed copper sheet to make brackets for the optical glass prisms he found at a trophy website

using a 12" dial caliper to find and mark the center of the bracket

Smiling.

some math and design notes.

sodering the bolts.

I am cleaning off the plates with a sandblaster to get rid of the dirt and oil from the panel, and also cleaned it to prevent human prints of oil from making it dirty.

setting up grids for degrees in angles, the infocus x10 has an offset of 135%, angled to prevent keystoning.

We positioned the strings holding plumb bobs for straightness. I am using the gremetry test pattern for digital video essentials.

prism placement test

using binary epoxy (a special glue) to hold prisms in brackets

prisms fixtured together.

painting ends of the prism to prevent light from escaping.

box is now built.

lining up the black felt to prevent light pollution

putting up shims

setting drags on prisms with nylon nuts

almost done.

Final sanding for urethane coat. Note latex gloves to prevent oil from hands on box.

First functioning test.

we used an aluminum sign we found in a dumpster at the cove maintenence workshop for our ceiling mount with some secondhand extruded aluminum for rigidity

picture of lens out (unmounted)

picture of lens in (unmounted)

The Proud Creator

pictures of the theater around

Picture of a 1/6th scale of a picnic table, a place for the remotes.

The picture of the projector on the ceiling

More projector action!

In front.

Me in front of the screen, watching "Book of Eli".

My neato way of masking for 16:9 content.

Me and my friends watching "Gladiator" in high definition.

The money shot!

Like father, like son. Couldn't done it without him.

Gallery rating:

(4.9) (48 ratings) Show ratings

Gallery rating:

(4.9) (48 ratings) Hide ratings

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Comments (52)

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Comments (52)

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Badas  » Dec 09, 2012 09:39 PM

Well done. I love that stuff. Ta Dono

drummerboy  » Aug 17, 2012 10:32 PM

All i can say is you are definately going to be a rich man one day if you keep up that fine work and dedication. Its good being able to do things like that for yourself as i believe thats what we are all born to do. Most of us including myself to a degree just spend the money and have it done for us, but people like yourself give people like me hope that we are capable of doing things for ourselves. Good onya bro and keep up the great work.

rkolinski  » Jun 27, 2012 02:50 PM

Really impressive DIY job; I would never try this myself!

nefilim  » Jun 27, 2012 07:57 AM

Nice work man Cool H.T. you have there !

Stridulent  » May 30, 2012 09:41 AM

Loved the lense and tracking job. Nicely done, sir!

Alpha Sixx  » Nov 12, 2011 04:54 PM

Cool work yo got going on down there! Thank you for the rating also my lil friend.

Luke01  » Jun 15, 2011 11:47 PM

I never comment on peoples galleries, but this is just plain awesome. My compliments.

BluVinyl  » May 12, 2011 09:36 PM

Excellent work. Nice job of documenting your efforts.

gillani  » May 02, 2011 02:50 AM

OMG. My effort is nothing compared to yours. Well done. Thank you for the generous compliments.

Sonny  » Mar 18, 2011 04:20 PM

Thats great work you and your dad did. I hope I can do something with my kids like that one day. I never got to with my pop'... Cherish those moments.

B.Hulk  » Mar 16, 2011 11:32 PM

Awesome job with the DIY Ani-lenz...

bkbluray  » Mar 09, 2011 07:32 PM

Nice! Free sounds like a good deal for that! Thanks for the nice comments!

bkbluray  » Mar 09, 2011 04:20 PM

I don't think I could accurately rate your HT, but that is one heck of a DIY job!!!

nezff  » Mar 01, 2011 05:47 PM

nice work, great setup

hamilton02  » Feb 20, 2011 11:00 PM

thx bro. Incredible job you did.

Trogdor2010  » Feb 20, 2011 07:41 PM

@JamesN; I am a New Media Communications Major. Thanks guys

JamesN  » Feb 20, 2011 07:31 AM

Wow, very impressive work! Good luck at college. What are you majoring in?

TheFactor  » Feb 15, 2011 10:04 PM

Good job !! VERY CREATIVE AND TALENTED !! Im very impressed

Trogdor2010  » Feb 07, 2011 08:05 PM

Again to all, thank you for such kind comments. @Jim L. I definately agree, it ain't clean (Granted it's a garage). However, since I am at college, occasionally visiting my place and that our house was already forclosed , I find that investing in my home theater right now not a real good idea. I do have some projects I want to do to it (Like masking). Making another home theater for me isn't likely going to happen anytime soon since I am planning on making an outdoor theater with a (likely) 20 foot wide scope screen.

Jim L  » Feb 07, 2011 01:15 PM

trogdor, though your theater per se is way too messy, I am giving you a 10 for the DIY job on the projector mount. That is one heck of a job and not something I would tackle. A great effort on your first home theater and look forward to your future creations!

nezff  » Jan 26, 2011 03:24 PM

awesome work bud 10 for you

leov36  » Jan 26, 2011 03:35 AM

i always thought of myself as a diy guy, but you took this ish to a whole other level. very cool man. i would love to make a anamorphic lense, but unfortunately i do not have a wide enough space. im afraid to click that link, as i would get way to many ideas in my head

DragonSarc  » Jan 25, 2011 08:53 PM

excellent build man wish i have that skill !!!!! easy 10 here!!!!

naturephoto1  » Jan 19, 2011 12:06 PM

Very nicely done Home Theater project. I am sure that you are pleased with your efforts.

pmac  » Dec 30, 2010 02:13 PM

Wow! as all others have said, just wow on the making of that lense

BlueDay  » Dec 27, 2010 12:49 PM

I see jb weld and the ignitor off a ford, love it. well done.

Crow  » Nov 20, 2010 02:20 AM

Amazing! To see your work in progress photos and the end result of your hardwork and SKILL is simply.........Amazing! If I had your talent, ingenuity and most of all, patience, I would have saved a small fortune on the purchase of my anamorphic lens. Your Dad must be very proud. Awesome job!

Trogdor2010  » Nov 19, 2010 12:41 PM

I wish to post again to all, thank you for all your kind comments.

mattryan5150  » Nov 17, 2010 07:25 PM

Wow. I respect the ingenuity, planning, and PATIENCE it must have taken to construct the lens. Great job!

Fors*  » Oct 27, 2010 07:56 AM

The amount of detail, skill and foresight to put together something like that anamorphic lense is amazing. You took great care with just about every step necessary to have it fully functional and aesthetically pleasing as well. I loved the copper touch. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't know how old you are, but you are worlds ahead of alot of other people your age in regards to HT I bet. Great job!

bz1080p  » Oct 27, 2010 07:42 AM

What an incredible project! You have some crazy skills there, and a great sequence of photos to illustrate the construction process. Well done.

Spurrier Sucks  » Oct 27, 2010 07:27 AM

Great job!

Alucard64  » Oct 27, 2010 01:43 AM

Great work on the lens! Congratulations.

DjGuinness  » Oct 24, 2010 04:46 AM

Amazing for a DIY project. I didn't know an anamorphic lens could just be built like that. Gotta be one of the biggest screens on this site and freaking amazing picture too! 10/10

vsidhu  » Oct 23, 2010 11:30 PM

MANCAVE!!...I love it. Nice work on the lens, your skills in the shop are very impressive.

talbers23  » Oct 20, 2010 12:55 PM

love the lens

stiffy12  » Oct 11, 2010 07:34 PM

Nice job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done

vega2K  » Oct 11, 2010 02:06 PM

A 10 for your father and your appreciation of him! Congrats!

Reference  » Oct 11, 2010 12:57 PM

A 10 for the lens!! Good job!!

Trogdor2010  » Sep 23, 2010 06:39 PM

I see a few people interested. Here is the link where I found the idea. When you do this, I promise you will not want to go back to letterbox on "scope". www.zuggsoft.com/theater/prism You can make a DIY lens easily for about $100- $250 (depending on the material you use). I used copper instead of wood or plastic mainly for durability and visual, and mine was designed for the ceiling mount I made. I also would take throw ratio into consideration, a longer throw will reduce chroma abbrieviations (as mentioned in the link). I also made measurements in thousanths ( 1/1000) to allow the optimal positioning, but you can do measurments in 1/16ths. DIY lens also may not contain certain features of commercial designs (electronic slide), but many people report commercial designs perform similarly to DIY designs, so I strongly urge anyone interested to atleast try it out. I thank everyone again for your kind compliments.

teknipper  » Sep 23, 2010 04:25 PM

I had no idea that an anamorphic lens could be a DIY project. Incredible ingenuity. Did you have plans or was this something you got to by trial and error? Tom

Hoser59  » Sep 23, 2010 03:18 PM

Awesome job on the lense, your DIY skill far exceeds anything I could do

mj3k  » Sep 23, 2010 01:40 AM

Wow!!! very very impressive young man...

SeanMF  » Sep 22, 2010 10:05 PM

Damn...impressive job on the diy lense. You selling your services? I'd be interested in getting a diy anamorphic lense like you created. Great job!

Trogdor2010  » Sep 22, 2010 10:00 PM

@Kareface I think for most people think that money is what makes the theater experience. You'll need it, but you could also make as good of a theater for about a tenth of the price, by making something that would cost alot, but not alot to make. Commercial lens themselves cost much more than my entire theater, I bet you my whole set up altogether by now would cost about $2,000, including projector, speakers, screen and even components. People just pay that much for each part, granted I do share that sentiment. P.S. you have an excellent home theater and speaker construction page.

Morrissey  » Sep 22, 2010 12:11 PM

I'm very impressed!

peliculero  » Sep 21, 2010 09:00 PM

Congratulations, for anamorphic lens great Job .

kareface  » Sep 20, 2010 09:39 PM

This is a very cool project. Not enough people do DIY stuff, and even fewer document it well. Very nice on the lens and the track.

snsguy  » Sep 20, 2010 11:55 AM

Fantastic job on the lens!

Trogdor2010  » Sep 19, 2010 02:59 PM

Thank you all for your kind comments.

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