How do you get exact measurements for cabinet?

[Bluepoint]

I have a Dynamo HS-27 cabinet (http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=4911&image=2) and I'm wondering how one goes about getting exact measurements for something this awkward... (Can't seem to find any measurements online anywhere.)

I want to get it perfect so I can dimension all the artwork I'm making properly. That means all the curved corners and everything.

So far all I can think to do is lay the thing on it's side and outline it on a large piece of cardboard... or scan the whole thing in bit by bit with a scanner and a laptop. Both ideas seem rather cumbersome. I keep thinking there's some math-type-protractor trick to doing this that I was taught in high school and now have completely forgotten.

Anyone else here dealt with this kind of thing?

[Bobulus]

Well, the way I'd do it is mentally divide it into simple shapes and measure those. So like a rectangle next to a couple triangles and so forth. It's not like you're going to cover the whole side anyway, right?

[bkenobi]

The way the manufacturers did it was to either leave some gap around the edges (around 1/4" to 1/2") or to make the artwork larger than needed and have the installer do a little trimming.  I wouldn't cover the whole thing personally, but if you do...I'd probably oversize the artwork a bit and trim during install.

[SavannahLion]

The way the manufacturers did it was to either leave some gap around the edges (around 1/4" to 1/2") or to make the artwork larger than needed and have the installer do a little trimming.  I wouldn't cover the whole thing personally, but if you do...I'd probably oversize the artwork a bit and trim during install.

+1 on the oversize bit.

If you intend to cover the whole thing, the correct way to do it is to go big then trim down the art. Let's say you're doing a space scene, you place all the points of interest towards the center (or the area you know the cab to exist) then as you go outwards, let the starfield continue out or the spaceship run an extra two inches or so beyond where you think the edge is. That extra size also lets you fine tune the position and rotate the pattern a tiny bit if you need to.

I used to do something similar and it was a royal PITA if I didn't have that extra 1" or so beyond the panel.

[Bluepoint]

I was actually planning to cover the entire side of the cabinet... I have space around the edges of the image for about 1 inch of slack either way. But following the edges of the cabinet. Not unlike the Atari Quantum side art (http://www.klov.com/images/11/118124215524.jpg)

But I'd still love to get the exact measurements.

I'm sure I'll go through all the trouble to get perfect measurements, print up the art -- then mess up when I'm applying it.

[push2reject]

I've actually been looking for measurements on this Dynamo cab for my own plans.  If you take exact measurements can you post them or PM me?

[bkenobi]

I'm sure I'll go through all the trouble to get perfect measurements, print up the art -- then mess up when I'm applying it.

A cabinet is over 6' tall usually.  That means that if you start applying at one end and are off by just a fraction of a degree, you will have a royal mess by the time you reach the other end.  Looking at my Area51 cabinet, the graphics are actually multiple pieces though.  So, when they applied the art, they put one section on at a time.  I'm guessing they got pretty good at it after building a gillion of these things (or at least a gillion different cabinets) over the years!

[mytymaus007]

Where can I by a Dynamo HS-27 cabinet i like it, went to the site but didnt see any buy area's

[push2reject]

Where can I by a Dynamo HS-27 cabinet i like it, went to the site but didnt see any buy area's

You can't, Dynamo is still in business but this model is out of production.

[mytymaus007]

any other models similar to the dynamo 

[Bluepoint]

I think I'm gonna end up just scanning the cabinet and stitching the images together to get the exact dimensions of one side... Once I do I'll be happy to upload the final measurements here or wherever.

[u_rebelscum]

It's very hard to get the exact dimensions, especially with curved corners.  I have a cab I've tried to measure many times, but the numbers I get don't add up when I try to CAD it.

If you're doing this for your art, and you don't mind marking up the side of your cab (you're going to cover it, anyway), I'd put it on it's side, mark points or draw lines 0.5" to 1" from the edges, ignoring the curves in the corners.  And measure that.  CAD up your measurements to check if they add up correctly.  Be very careful when measure the half inch (or so) offset, though.  Measure both distanances and angles, and for distnaces, measure edge lengths, totals, and diagonals.  For angles measure the cab corners and the aforementioned diagonals.

The marks could also show were the edge of your image would be.  And if you add a buffer around the resulting CAD drawing, that'll be basically your cab edge dimensions (but with curved corners with a radius of your original offset, not the original of the cab).


BTW, my problems (I think) are the largish inside curved corner between the CP and the monitor, or the small jog below the CP.  And that the cab was in bad condition when I got it.