The All Thing Shape Shifting Traveler from Zero Space! - An Anti-cab build.

[griffindodd]

The All Thing Shape Shifting Traveler from Zero Space!

In this build I'm going to convert my existing wall-mounted dual screen theater sign into a shape-shifting freak anti-cab that can become many things and perform many functions.

Let's get weird baby!

[griffindodd]

For the front end I'll be using a combination of existing solutions.

- Arcade - CoinOPs Legends 4 Vertical
- Pinball - Pinup Popper
- Karaoke - KODI
- Signage - Existing server-based via web interface.

[griffindodd]

Functions required from this build.

At Home (Docked):

- Up to 4-players at an arcade-style Control Panel that plugs into a local gaming computer and AV.
- Arcade experience shows Full cabinet with playable area close to original arcade sizes.
- Full size virtual pinball table with triple screen configuration.
- Dual mic video karaoke with user friendly menu.
- Immersive sound and lighting effects.


Portable:

- Fold up control panel that easily detaches/ attaches to AV and Power.
- CP has onboard computer, wifi, sound and amplification.
- Up to 4-players on an arcade-style Control Panel.
- Play on built-in display if none other available.
- Plug in to an external display such as a living room TV.
- Dual mic video karaoke with user friendly menu.
- Rechargeable for limited use at locations without power.

[griffindodd]

I removed the main screen from the sign (a 50" 1080p panel) and put it to the side as I'll be using it again later. I also removed the globe lighting as I want to replace it with something a bit more versatile.

[griffindodd]

As the signage and screens will be performing various roles, I wanted the lighting system to be able to adapt too. I'm installing this RGB outdoor lighting system into the existing holes.

[griffindodd]

A quick demo of the new lighting. 

[griffindodd]

The 50" screen will need to be moved back at least 3.5" from the front of the existing frame, it will be 'revealed' when the rig coverts into the pinball format. So I built out the back of the existing structure with deeper framing to house that screen.

[griffindodd]

I did the same on the outer frame, although I left an inch or so for it to float out from the wall and take advantage of the ambient light that comes from the smaller inline LEDs on the lighting wires. Stained the outer frame to match the existing finish and blacked out the interior box of the recessed frame.

[griffindodd]

Playing with the Visual Pinball software to get an idea of proportions and layout.

[griffindodd]

The pinball playfield will slide 'down-and-out' from the sign, so I'm going to need something reasonably stiff and not too heavy to build that structure from. I elected to use 3" deep aluminum 1/8 c-channel with a 1" lip which I purchased from a metals specialty site online.

[griffindodd]

I really don't have the correct tools to work with metal, so trying to miter something this size by hand pretty much sucked, but with the help of multiple clamps and a lot of swearing I managed to get the framing for the main playfield and flipper area to work out.

[griffindodd]

For the main screen I went with an open box SONY X85K 43". It has some nice specs including very low latency, 120hz native frequency and variable refresh rate support. I Know many people go for a 43" ASUS ROG gaming monitor or even an OLED, but I got this screen for under $500, I didn't want to drop double that for one of those options.

Colors on this are fantastic so I'm more than happy for the price.



The casing of the SONY fits snug directly into the C-Channel. 

[griffindodd]

Lots of back n forth between fitting the screen and making sure the measurements are spot on. So far so good though.

[griffindodd]

I'm making my own 'lock bar' for this layout as it's much better suited to the build than trying to make a traditional one work or spending money on having a custom one built.

[griffindodd]

After doing a little research on the age-old 'how many buttons?' question I decided on the following:

2 Flippers
2 Magnasaves
1 Lockbar 'Fire' button
1 Coin-up
1 Start game
1 Ball Plunge
3 smaller service buttons including escape/back.

[griffindodd]

I designed my own Fire button surround, I'll 3D print this with PETG and then hit it with some Rub-n-buff or vinyl to give it a metallic appearance.

[bobbyb13]

Cool stuff.
Did you know the C channel would be perfect fit for the screen already?
That is a score.
How thick is that aluminum stock you are using there?

[griffindodd]

Cool stuff.
Did you know the C channel would be perfect fit for the screen already?
That is a score.
How thick is that aluminum stock you are using there?

I based everything I bought on the dimensions given on web sites, I just got super lucky that the fit was so perfect, I couldn't have planned it so well  .  The aluminum is 1/8th stock.

[Zebidee]

Wow, that pinball will be amazing. Following   

[griffindodd]

3D printing a Fire Plate for the lock bar and while I was at it a Williams plate for my Robotron multi.

[pbj]

Why is there a brick wall outside your window?

[griffindodd]

Terraced back yard.

Finished up the sliding mechanism. For the legs I will have heavy duty locking drawer sliders coming out of the pedestal/base that will house the arcade CP

[griffindodd]

Adding the cosmetics and screen to the frame. I will be finishing the control panel in the same stain as the sign frame.

[Xiaou2]

When comparing the Donkey Kong photos... the color of the Displays "Whites" look too "Blueish".   There should be a menu option
to change the displays color profile, to a  "Warmer"  color tone  (more reddish hues).   This will make the colors more true to life,
and far less Harsh on the eyes.

 That said, some older display tech, had the older LED technology... which were not capable of producing that Warmer tone.
More modern LEDs now have the capability, of reproducing a much warmer White.   You might be able to replace cooler-LEDs with
warmer LEDs.

[thatpurplestuff]

Loving your slide idea, very curious to see how this turns out!  This could be a fantastic solution for people wanting a pinball cab but not having the dedicated space for one.

[Malenko]

Finished up the sliding mechanism. For the legs I will have heavy duty locking drawer sliders coming out of the pedestal/base that will house the arcade CP

Server rails? good idea they can support a lot of weight.

[griffindodd]

Just heavy duty locking drawer rails, I suppose they are probably the same thing.

More general progress. The signage is back on the wall in the new configuration. Just testing the screens and layouts propped up on kitchen stools for now.

[bobbyb13]

I've never been in the V-pin camp myself but that image is damn impressive.

The physical aspects of the build itself even more so.

[griffindodd]

Now we're getting somewhere. All folded up.

[griffindodd]

Testing all the wiring, buttons, lights etc.

[pbj]

Get some zip ties for those dangling wires.

[griffindodd]

I still have a cabinet to build down there that will also house the fold-out legs/base for the playfield.

Front end is pretty much set up, still have a few graphical tweaks, but that's the fun stuff.

[griffindodd]

While toppers are fun and can add to the overall look, I don't like it when they fill the whole upper screen as I find them overpowering. I made some background options that can fill the topper screen and then frame a smaller version when one exists and have a default pinball logo when one doesn't.

[griffindodd]

I also created a background template for the back glass and DMD areas to give them a little better and more tied together look.

[Zebidee]

I like the background template with the speakers on the sides - would be good for a music/playlists layout

[LTC]

Really love what you did there. 

[griffindodd]

That’s better.

[Wyo]

WOW!

Of course the legend that gives the world the DK in a barrel (and more)…just keeps coming up with unique ideas.

Holy cow man, you’re work is so great!  Glad you’re back…been missing seeing these caliber of builds. 

[griffindodd]

Lol it's funny how the barrel took off, you see them everywhere now, kinda fun.

I'm revisiting the vertical slider for the 3rd time, still wasn't happy with it as there was a tendency to bind if you didn't bring the playfield down square enough.  I'm going to try using solid rails and sliders designed for CNC work and have a fixed horizontal axis between them that the playfield will hinge around. This should stop the binding and give a much smoother and more reliable action.

[griffindodd]

Also I would like to offset the weight of the playfield if I can. I picked a reasonably light TV that still fulfilled the others specs I needed, it's only 22lb (10kg) which is not too bad for a 43" unit, but even with the lightweight aluminum frame the whole thing still has some weight to it and as such requires caution when handling.

I'm going to see if I can integrate a spring balancer and see if it will play well with the rails in the hope of offsetting a decent amount of the playfield weight.

[javeryh]

This project is so unique.  How hard is the pinball stuff to set up? 

[griffindodd]

This project is so unique.  How hard is the pinball stuff to set up?

Well, I wouldn't say it is easy, but once you delve in a little it's not especially hard either.

It depends what you want to do, if you just want to play a table on your computer you can install one of the three popular emulators, Pinball FX (Easiest), Future Pinball or Visual pinball VPX (More complex but huge variety of community built tables - this is what I use).

VPX uses VPinMame which, like regular mame uses the Roms from the original machine. Unlike arcade games though, you also need a 'table' file which is a recreation of the actual physical playfield. So bare minimum you need VPX installed, the Rom for the game and the playfield for the game.

[griffindodd]

yay the combination of the rails and carriages means that the space between them is 1/2" too small for the playfield to fit. I'm going to have to dismantle everything and route out channels for them. FML. 

[griffindodd]

I HATE ROUTING!! (and you should too) 

Always wear as many things on your head as possible when routing in the sun.

[griffindodd]

Yes I know the routing is ugly as sin, I had to do it with my hand router and due to the constraints of the framed area it was an exercise in trying to not kill myself with a hand-held blender on crack with no option for guides. 

[griffindodd]

By adding a horizontal axis (this one is still loose in the picture) I can minimize potential binding. The playfield will pivot around this.

[griffindodd]

All back together after 6 hrs of pain and suffering. Thankfully it was worth it as the playfield now glides up and down like butter, no issues with binding at all!!  I wasn't able to incorporate the spring balance the way I had hoped as it simply wont fit in the rail area, the playfield has only 1/16th between it's edges and the rolling carriages.

[Zebidee]

I HATE ROUTING!! (and you should too) 
Always wear as many things on your head as possible when routing in the sun.

Yes I know the routing is ugly as sin, I had to do it with my hand router and due to the constraints of the framed area it was an exercise in trying to not kill myself with a hand-held blender on crack with no option for guides. 

Routers scare the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of me because of how fast they move. Also table saws. And chain saws (except when playing DooM  ). We do what we have to do! Respect your tools!

Where I am the sun is so bad you just stay the hell out of it. Days over 41C (105F) for weeks, forecast says thunderstorms almost every day but no rain comes, just soul-sucking humidity.

Wouldn't worry about some slightly rough routing, noone will see it. Your build is looking great, very innovative. Reminds me of Laythe's builds a little (eg Shapeshifter).

You can setup the frontend to match movie posters (when in display mode, you might slideshow them) with appropriate movie-themed pinball tables when opened into pinball mode. Like, you see the Terminator II movie post then open up into Terminator II pinball, etc. Transitioning from movie poster to matching pinball would be very cool. Seems there are quite a few movie-themed pinballs, for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Pinball_machines_based_on_films
https://www.greatamericanpinball.com/movie-pinball-machines

Guess you can extend the idea beyond movies too, for example band-based pinballs (AC/DC, KISS, Led Zeppelin etc.). Just associate appropriate pop-culture image with the pop-culture themed machine. You can have multiple lists.

[griffindodd]

Yes I use a movie poster software that pulls in the trailer and images by scanning my Emby library, the sign just uses two web browsers in kiosk mode to hit the server and play the trailer on the top screen and display the poster on the bottom one.

[javeryh]

Yes I use a movie poster software that pulls in the trailer and images by scanning my Emby library, the sign just uses two web browsers in kiosk mode to hit the server and play the trailer on the top screen and display the poster on the bottom one.

What software are you using?  I can't seem to find anything easy on Google for this - just want to display movie posters on a vertical screen like a slideshow with maybe 30 seconds per poster.  Ideally I'd be able to drag new poster into a folder that the PC or whatever was connected to (instead of just a photo slideshow on a USB stick).

[griffindodd]

What software are you using?  I can't seem to find anything easy on Google for this - just want to display movie posters on a vertical screen like a slideshow with maybe 30 seconds per poster.  Ideally I'd be able to drag new poster into a folder that the PC or whatever was connected to (instead of just a photo slideshow on a USB stick).

I use this  https://www.movieposterapp.com/

[Zebidee]

Thanks for sharing, that movieposterapp seems to be perfect for what you are doing    I also like the idea that it automatically scrapes/downloads new movies/trailers, great way to visually check out new movies n such. 

Are you able to get a smooth transition from movieposterapp to VPX as you open out the "table" (and back to movieposterapp as you close it up)?

Getting the software side of things right can take as long as the build itself   

[griffindodd]

I’m using pinup popper as my FE for pinball navigation, I’ll probably write some scripting to move between the poster and other modes then attach it to a key combo. This machine is also going to be a vertical arcade cabinet with a separate 4-player CP I have still yet to build, it will have multiple functions.

[Zebidee]

Pinup Popper looks like an good pinball frontend. Thanks for the tip, will be useful when/if I get around to doing my own vpin setup (one of these days).

[griffindodd]

Tidying up the finish on the main playfield, will see how well it stands up to being used over time.

[griffindodd]

More progress over the weekend. Built the base for the arcade control panel which also provides support for the virtual pin playfield using locking heavy duty drawer sliders.

[griffindodd]

Quick in-place test to see how close I got with just math....not too bad.

[griffindodd]

A few tweaks, added a front panel and a few coats of satin black.

[griffindodd]

1. Movie Poster Mode.
2. Arcade Mode
3. Pinball mode.

[griffindodd]

I added a 4-key USB keypad to the build then bound the keys using Auto Hot Key to scripts that will switch between 1. Poster Mode, 2. Arcade Mode, 3. Pinball Mode, 4 Karaoke Mode.

[griffindodd]

Here is a quick demonstration of the process of opening and closing the cab.

[Zebidee]

This is awesome. Officially Very Nice   

[emphatic]

What a sweet setup. 

[Locke141]

I love well thought out builds. Great job!

[javeryh]

This project turned out great.  It's got all the best parts of what I love about this hobby.  It's completely original, looks cool and works as intended.   

[griffindodd]

Thanks all.

I added the 3D printed fire plate over the weekend and also wired up the solenoids so I get a nice 'Thunk' feel through the lock bar when I fire the flippers.

[reptileink]

Haven't been on this forum for a LOOONG time. Nice to see new projects still happening. This thing is the ultimate game accessory! The sheer engineering is remarkable. Nice to see fresh content and ideas.