Alchemy: Video Pinball Shmup Table

[mcseforsale]

You could create a curtain around the mounting area as to hide the isolation mechanism and provide light proofed-ness.

AJ

Maybe something like this



http://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Vibration-Dampening-Mounts-Threaded/dp/B0015HOKFI/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1370536924&sr=1-2

[Maximus]

Yep I think it's worth a try, I got 4 shipped from eBay for $9. 6lb lateral isolation and 40lb vertical, that should be enough when combined with the other factors of the cabinet.

i really like the dynamic lock down bar idea as it removes the abuse from the cabinet in general so it's something I'll be spending extra time on to ensure I can get it right.

[Leapinleny]

Ok, I hadn't look at this thread for a week or so, dual projectors underneath the cabinet, are you kidding me , that is going to be so cool! The builds just keep getting more over the top. After I finish my Mame is it definitely going to be Pin build, but obviously nothing to this level, I just can't wrap my head around the engineering required 

[Maximus]

Speaking of engineering, this is getting pretty elaborate

[Maximus]

Bouncing the.light around can really catch you out. Here you can see part of the projector wall housing clipping into the bottom right of the picture when the beam shoots back off the mirror

[Maximus]

As usual space is my enemy so I'm having to squeeze out every last mm.

The monster screen in place


The tightest part is where the screen meets the side art projection. They both fight for the same space as I want the screen to slope 4 inches over its length and have the glass rise above the screen 3 inches at the back of the cab to add a 3D effect to the playfield.



But I also want the side art projection to fill as much of the cabinet sides as possible. Getting these to all play nicely together without getting in the way of the projected image is crazy.

[TheShaner]

Well thats pretty damned cool.

[rockyrocket]

Really like the more classic shape - good choice to revert I think.
So I am not wanting to interfear with your design chioces, but as someone who used tilt bobs for nudging for all of about half a day I would just like to quietly suggest they work  about as good as a chocolate tea pot .
Tilt bobs are great for tilting but not nudging IMHO, personally mercury switches worked fine for me but then I experimented with a sidewinder joypad and have not looked back after getting a taste of anologue nudging.
Anyway like I said i`m not wanting to intrude on your plans but wanted to relay my findings and threw together a quick vid...
And man if you think you are low on space, trust me its way more than me you lucky thing.

[Maximus]

Thanks Rocky I'll have to check that nudging out it looks pretty amazing.

Fashioned some anti shock brackets with the bushings that arrived

[mcseforsale]

How you gonna manage the heat of the projectors in there?

AJ

[Maximus]

How you gonna manage the heat of the projectors in there?

AJ

There are ventilation ducts in all the walls of the projection box so none of the airflow is restricted. Also I'll pull heat out of the back of the main cab with two large 200mm fans.

[Maximus]

More shaving to reduce the projection box profile as much as possible, looking more like an Escher painting every day.


The box protrudes an inch and a quarter from the cabinet edges this is the minimum focal distance I can get away with to fill the side screens.  Not a bad trade off considering the effect

[yotsuya]

Too bad it's not flush.

[Nephasth]

I think you should probably stick with nudge buttons on this one. I understand you're using the isolating mounts to reduce vibration on the projectors, but I think it may introduce another problem if you go with any kind of physical nudging. If the cab is nudged (or if you go with the lock down bar nudging mechanism and it is nudged hard enough), the cab will move somewhat. And with the projector box being isolated, it won't move as much as the cab does, when the cab does. I think this will cause the image projected on the sides to jump/jerk while nudging since the projectors won't be moving with the cab as it does. $0.02.

[yotsuya]

Actually, Neph brings up a good point. We've installed a ton of projectors over the years on my campus, and some of them are prone to vibrating, even from something like the air conditioner. We've even had to have the contractor come out to reinforce the mounts in some cases. How are the actual projectors being secured in the projector box?

[Maximus]

How are the actual projectors being secured in the projector box?

I'm thinking about attaching a mounting plate to the built in mounting holes on the base of the projector. The plate will have a screw thread that protrudes through the base of the projector box, then I can use that to torque the projector down to the base.

As for vibration it's definitely a concern but the only way to address it is to see what happens when it's in-situ and go from there.

[Maximus]

Took my wing-girl down to the store for more wood and paint, she likes to help out with dad's projects

[mcseforsale]

What about using surgical tube (the soft silicone type) around those mounting screws as another level of bump absorbed-ness?

AJ

How are the actual projectors being secured in the projector box?

I'm thinking about attaching a mounting plate to the built in mounting holes on the base of the projector. The plate will have a screw thread that protrudes through the base of the projector box, then I can use that to torque the projector down to the base.

As for vibration it's definitely a concern but the only way to address it is to see what happens when it's in-situ and go from there.

[Maximus]

The mounting plate would torque the projector feet down against the floor of the box so it wouldn't really do anything as the feet would have a rigid point of contact with the projector box itself. I'll start with the current isolation mounts and then see if I need to add anything else after testing a bit, good thing is that it's all easily removed.

[Maximus]

Hardly any progress this week but I did get the isolation mounts fitted


1/4 inch float between the projector box and the cab

[Maximus]

Projection box mounted and floating under the cab


Started into the projection chambers

[Maximus]

Having to work around the projection beams while strengthening the cabinet is creating some super cool shapes and spaces





What's not to love about a mitering jigsaw. This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite tools

[Maximus]

Just keep building just keep building. ..

[Maximus]

Redid the back box for better proportions and back to the traditional look. My speakers are going to have to fire upwards.

[floriske.nl]

Looking great so far!

I would love to build a virtual pin some day, but the costs and amount of work are holding me back for now.

Are you going to "dress up" te projection box as well to make it less of a "seperate" part of the machine?

[bs mode]
e.g. in a jetfighter theme you could mount some missiles to it  or make it pr0n based with some manequin doll legs on it and make a bunghole like in the barrel of kong in the coindoor with a nudge sensor in it  or maybe simply add some cupholders?
[/bs mode]

[Le Chuck]

Ya know, some arcade machines have a box to sit on instead of legs.  Just a thought. 

Google "Whoa Nellie Pinball" for ideas

[yotsuya]

Backbox looks much better, Griff. Good change.

[Maximus]

Ya know, some arcade machines have a box to sit on instead of legs.  Just a thought. 

Google "Whoa Nellie Pinball" for ideas

Ha ha ha, just got around to looking at this, pure genius

[Maximus]

Back at it a bit.

I've now officially remade every last inch of this build. New backbox slotted and ready for mating with the base. I'm attempting a screen positioning trick which forced me to rejig.


Sensei doesn't seem to care about my routing

[Maximus]

If you look at the bottom ultrawide monitor in the backbox you can see that the DMD doesn't fill it. I want to use this as an opportunity to do something below the DMD. So the idea is to have the top of the play field meet the the bottom of the ultrawide monitor as tight as possible, this will be approx 3" under the playfield glass at the very back of the box. The idea is the playfield glass retainer strip will sit in front of the ultrawide, essentially splitting it in two where the glass meets it, the DMD showing above, and the rest of the screen showing below.

If I can pull this off then the split, re-enforced by the presence of the glass and retaining strip, will allow me to have a video wall area at the back of the playfield where I can play animations or anything else I can think of, and of course the normal DMD above.

Hard to explain, will make more sense when I install it and can show it in action.

If you jump to the 2:00 mark in this video I explain it there with the rig running...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PcSpcuZY9Mo#at=120

[rablack97]

You , Quizz Kidd and Ond are neck and neck in the mad scientist competition...

 

[Maximus]

Ill agree with the mad part, this build is making me nuts.

Cutting the rear seating for the back box


I love it when a plan comes together

[Maximus]

[Maximus]

Zebs badass power boards and controllers

[Maximus]

Coildnt resist giving the shiny bits a little test fit

[Nephasth]

You going to have any room for your lockdown bar with that screen being all the way up against the front edge?

[Maximus]

No I'm going to have to pull off something creative at the front for the controls and lockdown.  For now I'm just going to get the rest of the build done as I need to clear the thousand little challenges out of my head that are still waiting to be solved with this project.

[Maximus]

I have more actuator clearance than I thought for the middle positions. I can move them further out so they are closer to the sides

[mcseforsale]

Wow, that is really turning out nicely.  Inspiring for sure.

AJ

[Maximus]

Thanks. I figured I need to turn up the dial and get serious about getting this done.



Its definitely the weirdest thing I've built. After all the whole point of this box is to just to hide all of it's tricks as best as it can and let the screens do all the work. Its kind of an anti cabinet