Author Topic: Pixelbox (Read 103261 times)

vrf · « **Reply #120 on:** December 12, 2006, 04:38:09 am »

A similiar unit, as in really small? Do tell!

These mockups are kind of fun...

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s=4bf5325aeb4e31fad56e05a49b58015b&showtopic=79955&view=findpost&p=977703

Kremmit · « **Reply #121 on:** December 12, 2006, 11:37:01 am »

Nope, not as small. The similarity to yours would be more in the general shape, and especially the down-on-the-desk control panel, to keep the ergonomics suited to playing from a desk chair. Also I'm considering having it laser-cut from plastic from the same guys you linked to up above, that looks pretty danged affordable. I wonder if they can do HDPE or UHMW- I'm thinking something soft like one of those ought to absorb computer noise better than a harder plastic, and it'd be easy to work with after I get the panels - screw holes, T-molding groove, joystick recess, etc.

I'm thinking of replacing my current desktop CRT with one of these, permanently. So, I'd want it to be big enough to fit a decent size LCD. (I'm used to a 21" CRT, no way I'm switching to a 7" screen!) I'd also want space inside for at least a microATX board, just to keep cost down and upgrade options relatively open. Maybe even full ATX, I dunno.

But my project's still pretty much in the "daydreaming" stage right now- we'll see if it ever gets past that.

vrf · « **Reply #122 on:** January 05, 2007, 03:47:52 am »

Total price for acrylic (3/6mm black, 3mm clear) and laser-cutting: $375, but they're giving me a $35 discount for nesting the files myself. The price may go down more as I've adjusted the file quite a bit to take advantage of shared lines--meaning that I've nested some parts so that the laser is cutting the edges of two pieces at the same time.

They give a maximum price, with most projects not taking quite as long to cut as their estimate. Hopefully it'll hit below the $300 mark, which is about what I was thinking when I started.

I'm going to be watching the mail room like a hawk pretty soon...

theCoder · « **Reply #123 on:** January 05, 2007, 07:20:22 pm »

Good to see you active again vrf.

How will you be attaching the acrylic pieces together?

psychotech · « **Reply #124 on:** January 05, 2007, 07:45:02 pm »

Quote

How will you be attaching the acrylic pieces together?

Any glue ?

vrf · « **Reply #125 on:** January 05, 2007, 09:06:53 pm »

I have some good two-part epoxy that I'll be using. There are some good adhesives out there for using on acrylic, including some that basically melt the surfaces and weld the pieces together.

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/category.php?bid=21&
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/category.php?bid=19&

The top and bottom panels have removable sections so I can get into the box for assembly and maintenence. Those will be held in place with screws. The control panel also comes off.

leapinlew · « **Reply #126 on:** January 10, 2007, 11:13:20 pm »

My bartop is approximately 24" tall, 16" wide, and 18" deep and weighs about 60lbs. When I play a game and start getting aggressive with the controls - the cabinet is just heavy enough to stop itself from falling over. You have any concerns about that?

vrf · « **Reply #127 on:** January 11, 2007, 01:01:40 am »

Really good question. I have thought of this issue a little bit, but I don't think my design will allow someone to get really agressive with the box. With the compact size come some sacrifices.

That said, I think a few aspects of the design may help minimize the issue:

1. There is a lot of weight on the bottom of the machine. The CP will be 12mm of almost solid acrylic. There are also a few more layers surrounding the bottom of the trackball and control panel.

2. The pivot point for all that joystick action is quite low on this cab. If my mental simulation of physics is even in the right ballpark, then a hard shove in any direction will make the machine want to slide, not topple over. (And I do have plans to put some rubber grippy stuff on the bottom panel.)

3. The very low front of the control panel allows the player's palms to rest right on the CP. That extra weight will help keep the box stable.

So... hopefully it'll be okay. I'd certainly be interested in hearing about other people's experience with bartop cabs. (I have to admit that I've never played one before.)

Vance

DrewKaree · « **Reply #128 on:** January 13, 2007, 08:06:00 pm »

Quote from: psychotech on January 05, 2007, 07:45:02 pm

Quote
How will you be attaching the acrylic pieces together?

Any glue ?

You'd be surprised just how poorly "any" glue works on acrylic. They make specific "adhesives" for the stuff, which actually melt and fuse the pieces together.

vrf · « **Reply #129 on:** January 14, 2007, 10:22:23 am »

This is (hopefully) my final marquee art. (If I messed something up, please let me know.)

Now off to find a printer that does that backlit vinyl stuff...

Witchboard · « **Reply #130 on:** January 14, 2007, 10:31:40 am »

You forgot the "TM" after the name.

leapinlew · « **Reply #131 on:** January 14, 2007, 11:56:52 am »

Quote from: vrf on January 14, 2007, 10:22:23 am

This is (hopefully) my final marquee art. (If I messed something up, please let me know.)

Now off to find a printer that does that backlit vinyl stuff...

Is it a bit early to be ordering the marquee? Your a braver man than I!

DrewKaree · « **Reply #132 on:** January 15, 2007, 12:24:05 am »

Quote from: vrf on January 14, 2007, 10:22:23 am

This is (hopefully) my final marquee art. (If I messed something up, please let me know.)

Now off to find a printer that does that backlit vinyl stuff...

To me, the shading on the two edges looks excessive. I think it might look better to have that shading on one side or the other, but not both, and I think the shading in the red section doesn't "pop" enough to make that the side you keep.

Just my opinion

*edit* I'm referring to the darker shading right next to the "P" or the "X", the greyish stuff that makes it look like there's some motion.

vrf · « **Reply #133 on:** January 15, 2007, 10:42:18 am »

Thanks for the feedback, Drew. How about with the shading taken out entirely? (A slight shadow has been added.)

theCoder · « **Reply #134 on:** January 15, 2007, 11:16:22 am »

How about a nice deep drop shadow?

Any news on the construction?

DrewKaree · « **Reply #135 on:** January 15, 2007, 07:53:15 pm »

Quote from: vrf on January 15, 2007, 10:42:18 am

Thanks for the feedback, Drew. How about with the shading taken out entirely? (A slight shadow has been added.)

I think the shading adds quite a lot to the overall look of the marquee. It looks rather plain without it

The thing with the shading on the edges - I figured out what it is that makes me tilt my head to the side and say "hmmm". The edges have that look that comic strips have to portray the sense of movement. With it on both sides, my brain is telling me it's trying to move in both directions at the same time.

Do you have the .psd (or whatever format you have it in OTHER than .jpeg? Mebbe might make it easier if we can see how it's done or show you an idea.

vrf · « **Reply #136 on:** January 15, 2007, 09:41:28 pm »

I know what you mean about the two-way motion. I'll play around more with trying to get it going in one direction. (PSD file is on my home computer, though.) Thanks!

Coder, the file is at the laser company now. Seems they're pretty busy this time of year (they mostly make hobby robot parts) so my project might not be a priority.

She did say the turnaround time was about 10 days, though.... Hmm...

luckyfold · « **Reply #137 on:** January 18, 2007, 01:20:48 am »

I took model building and design courses in college, and worked a lot with acrylic.

What you will need is:

WeldOn http://www.misterplexi.com/solvent.html - basically is a solvent that will melt the two joint together. Be warned the joints have to be as perfect as you can get them or it will not hold to well - or at all. Don't even talk about screwing up the joint, if you mess it up - it WILL look like crap, however if your covering it, not so much of a deal.

Syringe - a small one will do. Take the point off of it. Make sure to get all the air out of it before applying weldon.

Something to hold the joint - I prefer tape, be careful though as the weldon can - and will - flow in between the tape and the acrylic causing a huge mess. You need to apply the tape and do a little welding around it, once that sets up you'll be able to do the rest without the tape. I have also used large 90 degree angle blocks.

Patience - it can take a while for it to fully dry, like 24-48hrs for it to totally bond depending how much you put on it.

Good luck.

Jayme65 · « **Reply #138 on:** January 20, 2007, 04:20:02 am »

Great design!!
I'm new at Photoshop and Illustrator...so I'm curious on how you ahieved the grid in the background!!

How did you do it?
How did you fill it with those different base color (manually, automatic)?
How did you put it in perspective?

:-) As you can see, I'm nearly asking for a tutorial ;-)

Thanks very much

vrf · « **Reply #139 on:** January 22, 2007, 08:10:10 am »

Quote from: Jayme65 on January 20, 2007, 04:20:02 am

:-) As you can see, I'm nearly asking for a tutorial ;-)

here's the Cliff's Notes version...

bottom layer:
1. Block out some colors. In this case it was four areas of red, yellow, green, blue... colors sampled from a photo of my arcade buttons. (You can see the rough areas in earlier versions of the marquee.)

2. Blend the colors together with a gausian blur. Tinker with the radius until you get the blurring effect that you want.

top layer
1. Find a grid pattern somewhere. This one was just a photo texture that I had of some tiles. I repeated it a few times to have enough of the little squares. Desaturate the layer all the way. (so it's effectively a grayscale layer.)

2. Select a bunch of random individual squares to brighten or darken. You could even create recognizeable sprites, I guess. Be subtle with the effect, though.

3. Rotate/resize the layer with ctrl+T. The perspective is under edit/transform.

4. Set this layer to "vivid light" and mess with the layer opacity till it gives the effect you want. You can also play with curves (ctrl+M) to lighten/darken the effect.

(+_+) · « **Reply #140 on:** January 23, 2007, 03:26:41 pm »

Quote from: vrf on January 15, 2007, 10:42:18 am

Thanks for the feedback, Drew. How about with the shading taken out entirely? (A slight shadow has been added.)

I personally like this one better. Have you toyed around with adding any of you favorite pixelated characters. There is a lot of free space around the name and it may snap it up.

fjl · « **Reply #141 on:** January 23, 2007, 04:28:44 pm »

I would personally go with Pixelated text.

blueznl · « **Reply #142 on:** January 23, 2007, 06:15:10 pm »

Quote from: vrf on June 10, 2006, 10:46:23 pm

...Yeah, I probably could work with some local sign shops/laser cutters over here, but my Chinese is...

I just noticed this. So... you're in China at the moment?

zenmasterbooty · « **Reply #143 on:** January 23, 2007, 07:48:33 pm »

If your in Shanghai and need a hand with a shop owner send me a PM, but I wouldn't buy the acrylic from here due to quality concerns. They use the cheapest materials domestically, and I imagine anything you bought here would yellow and crack within the first year.

vrf · « **Reply #144 on:** February 09, 2007, 02:38:11 am »

Thanks for the comments, guys. This is kind of embarassing how much this project has changed, how I've missed all my own deadlines.

Anyhow, I changed laser shops at the very last moment. I just couldn't pay the $120 shipping to Taiwan. So the local shop was the way to go. The sales rep was even nice enough to snap a couple of pictures as the case was getting cut. They're not great, but you can maybe recognize some of the shapes.

Oh, and here's another marquee attempt. Better?

leapinlew · « **Reply #145 on:** February 09, 2007, 09:51:53 am »

Ahh! Thats progress... awesome! I look forward to more pics.

psychotech · « **Reply #146 on:** February 09, 2007, 06:33:15 pm »

That's just great

Looked good earlier, looks awesome now ..Have to learn a few words more for the final cab

Yesssh... More pix!

johnperkins21 · « **Reply #147 on:** February 09, 2007, 07:23:55 pm »

That newest marquee is the

.

vrf · « **Reply #148 on:** February 09, 2007, 11:11:24 pm »

Thanks!

I don't actually have the case in my possesion yet. She mailed it out on Friday afternoon, so I should have it on Monday or Tuesday. More photos then.

Here is a little size comparison picture that shows my cab in relation to other bartop designs you might have seen:

psychotech · « **Reply #149 on:** February 10, 2007, 09:55:09 pm »

Great!

Still, on the size comparisons, here's mine .. (Scale to size..)

Not a perfect profile (it's 2 shiny..) but, well ..check the thread

Monitor is 11,8" TFT/LCD

Cabinet width is 35,5cm = 13,976377952755905511811023622047" ..to be exact?!

Sorry, ..couldn't help myself

Still, your bartop looks really awesome ..and unique!

vrf · « **Reply #150 on:** February 11, 2007, 12:35:10 am »

Very cool. I hadn't realized the Tomatocade was so compact. Nice work!

kizer · « **Reply #151 on:** February 11, 2007, 01:32:23 pm »

I currently have no disire to build a bartop model, but I'm so blown away by the design process on this one. I keep coming back to this thread just to watch and see how things are going. I've come to the realization that no matter how big or small a project is its all a matter of attention to details and in this case its not how to mount the 27-inch monitor its about how to squeeze everything in and make things fit properly.

Thanks for sharing the process.

Maybe someday I'll actually con the wife into letting me brake loose and building my own machine. Some day.

leapinlew · « **Reply #152 on:** February 11, 2007, 02:04:12 pm »

Quote from: kizer on February 11, 2007, 01:32:23 pm

Maybe someday I'll actually con the wife into letting me brake loose and building my own machine. Some day.

My young Padawan. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Sorry for the hijack vrf. I just felt in necessary to set that poor soul straight.

psychotech · « **Reply #153 on:** February 11, 2007, 07:45:27 pm »

leapinlew is sure right.. Just go for it, ask forgiveness later

vrf · « **Reply #154 on:** February 12, 2007, 09:10:54 am »

Thanks for the kind words, Kizer. In my situation, permission was easier because I usually don't buy any other toys.

The case parts arrived this morning. Here are a few pics of a couple of the panels:

Why both black and white panels? The new laser shop had several laser tables that could run at the same time, so they offered a significantly cheaper price on extra sets. From the beginning of this project, I couldn't really decide which color to go with, so I ordered one of each.

Which one do you think I should build first, black or white?

(I only have the computer and arcade parts for one machine. The leftover case would be for another Pixelbox in the future.)

Loki · « **Reply #155 on:** February 12, 2007, 09:36:26 am »

Damn.. you have some big feet and hands...

Oh wait....

Looks nice... a bit smaller and you have a handheld :p
Can't wait to see it finished

javeryh · « **Reply #156 on:** February 12, 2007, 09:40:45 am »

Holy bananas that thing is small! This thing is going to be super sweet when it is finished. I can't wait to see it up and running. Great design work so far - I hope you can fit everything inside!!

kizer · « **Reply #157 on:** February 12, 2007, 01:19:26 pm »

Man that thing is going to be sweet when its all put together.

I think with your artwork black would look nice.

vrf · « **Reply #158 on:** February 14, 2007, 10:26:35 am »

I don't have the overlay artwork yet, but I couldn't resist loosely assembling the control panel:

Oh, and on the glue subject, I think I'm going to try out this DIY trick:

http://guides.pimprig.com/modding/diy_acrylic_cement.php

I'll test it first on some scrap to see how strong the hold is. (The reading I've done suggests that this is as good as the pre-made acrylic cements out there, without the cancer-causing side effects.)

psychotech · « **Reply #159 on:** February 14, 2007, 09:36:21 pm »

Looks great, but .. how is the overlay going to be attached?


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