Well, after seeing the plans on Ebay I decided the risk was well worth 19.99. After buying the plans and looking at what needed to be done, I actually threw them in the trash and assumed that I would never be able to do it. It wasn't until two days later that I decided to check out this forum and see just how difficult it would be.
I must say that after reading hundreds of posts, it was then that I decided to go ahead and try it. This forum and all the great information contained within, was what changed my mind, and of course the hope of having a viable home theater projector. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that the results could be so amazing!

Thanks! in advance to everyone!

Here I go....

Here's the material list that I compounded to make my projector:

1. 400 W Metal Halide Ballast - 51.46 - from 1000 bulbs
2. Mogul Socket - 14.14
3. BT28 Sylvania Metal halide Bulb 27.05
4. Samsung 512 N Monitor - 249.00
**I purchased a Monitor on ebay but it was DOA. I was desperate.**
5. 3/4" Plywood FREE
6. 1 10amp high current 120v switch - 2.75
7. Lumenlab Standard Lens Kit - 71.13 with shipping
8. 120mm 12v Fan 2.99
9. 2qt mirrored mixing bowl - 1.98
10. Digital Thermometer - 7.99
11. Power DVD 5 Software with DTS Upgrade - 25.99
12. Misc Wire and Acc. - 50.00 (approx)
13. Turtle-Beach sound card - 18.99
14. Tempered Glass - 18.00
15. Blackout Cloth from Joann's - 24.99

Total- $566.00 Approx

*It would have been under $425 had the monitor from EBAY been OK.*

Here's what was left over after the monitor stip. The first monitor that I had was a Viewsonic g150. Very unfriendly to use. It was dead on arrival but decided to go ahead and strip it anyway. It had really bad FFC issues. I don't think I would have been able to use it had I wanted to. I bought the Samsung 512N and I'm very pleased with it. VERY VERY Easy to stip and no FFC issues.

Here's a picture of the Samsung 512N monitor after it was stripped down. It was a very easy strip and I highly recommend this montior. No FFC issues and very easy to install in the box. The original frame was a perfect holder for the lcd. I used Liquid Nails to hold it in place. Made sure not to get any on the surface of the LCD.

A picture of the Ballast mounted on the back of the box. The inside was a little tight. I also heard that the Ballast could generate extra heat within the box so I didn't want to take any chances. Very easy hookup. I was a little anxious at first, but the wiring was very simple.



Here's the first shot of the inside of the light chamber. There has been a reflector and flashing added since then.



Here's the bowl that I am currently using. It was purchase from acemart.com for $1.98.



And here's the first shot of the bulb lit.

Here's a decent shot of the alignment of the bulb - without the reflector -

It's pretty much dead-on center.

Here's a pic of the wall that I will be using for the projection. The dimensions of the screen are going to be 72" X 108".



First shot. Try not to laugh. It was projected on a sheet. Camera also very out of focus. I think my camera skills also had a little to do with it. This was also shot during the middle of the day.

First shot after purchasing blackout cloth from JoAnn's.



Here's a shot of New Groove. The image was still a little dark. The reflector has been installed. The image is really bright in real life but I decided to adjust the reflector anyway. I was also seeing some hot spotting in the middle/bottom portion of the screen.

After adjusting the reflector, here's a few shots of Spongebob.

Now's some shots of The Two Towers:









Kick-Butt movie!! This is better than watching it at the theater. The screen is huge and the audio is in DTS!

That reminds me - I highly recommend the Turtle-Beach USB sound card. Check it out on Ebay.

Two Towers - Possibly the best movie ever! Great audio and video.

Wow, it looks really nice. Great clarity.

I have to agree with the TT being the best of the 3. I thought ROTK and FOTR were also good, but I was seriously left breathless at the end of TT. The beautiful orchestral score juxtaposed with the montage of shots of the good guys finally winning and Sam giving that his speech at the end was what did it for me. I think I even may have started to cry because that was the greatest moment I have ever seen in any movie. I can't wait to view it on a LumenLab.

Again great work.

Is there something I have to do to see the pictures because all I can see is the first one.

I was experiencing the same issue yesterday with not all of the pictures showing, but I thought that I had corrected it. I just logged back in after a few hours and they are all showing on my pc, so I hope that everyone else can see them.

Please let me know if you are still unable to see the remainder of the pictures.

Thanks, kissrulz

FrostKaiser,

I agree with you about the TT. I used to be a Star Wars fanatic until I saw these movies. Comparing these to Attack of the clones is like comparing a BMW to Yugo. ATOC is almost laughable in parts and the CGI is nowhere near the quality that's in TT. Just my two cents worth.

What's so cool is that the experience I had at the theater with the Two Towers can now be experienced at home - and without all the extra people.

I am very pleased with the way the picture has turned out. It's even more vibrant in person.

Great job, very even light.

I'm considering buying PowerDVD. Is the control panel at bottom always present while watching a movie?

No it's not.

While Turtle Beach USED to make good soundcards, their latest have sucked by comparison (they actually got worse after the Santa Cruz). While the Santa Cruz is a very good card, and you can probably get it for pretty cheap, it's been surpassed by VIA Envy 24 based cards, the best being the M-Audio Revolution 7.1, which goes for about $90 online. At the cheaper end of the scale, the Chaintech AV-710 can be had for $25 online and you won't hear much difference. The basic difference is a slightly less sophisticated processor and less expensive DACs. The M-Audio uses AKM, the Chaintech a VIA Vinyl VT1616 and a Wolfson 2-channel (which you should probably use for the front speakers since it's better quality than the VT1616). But compared to the Santa Cruz, and older Creative cards, its a significant improvement. If you really seriously value your audio quality, I'd go with the M-Audio Revolution.

Kick ass projector, btw. I don't know why more people don't post shots of the Balrog.

Id recomend getting windvd ... the newest version ...

It has a gamma control where as Power DVD does not .... as well as it has a sharpening feature that I have found usefull ....

I have all three programs commonly used ... PowerDVD, WinDVD, and Zoomplayer/FFDshow ... My HTPC isnt up to snuff to use the main features of FFDSHOW so Im using WinDVD .... You will appreciate a gamma control with your PJ ...

kizzrulz, speaking of ur bowl in ur pj, does it make light more bright ? it seems different shape from other bowls. i m impressed that there are no shades at the corners of screen.

twallclimber,

I don't know if I would say that it makes the light brighter or not. I do know that I did experience some pretty bad hot spotting right at first, but after centering the bulb with the bowl, the hot spotting has been removed. After tweaking, I also noticed an increase in the brightness and overall "even lighting" of the entire picture - which I am very happy with. You can see in the screen shot of the New Groove that the corners were darker than the center.

When I get home from work today, I will take some shots of the bowl installed in the projector.

It may not be the bowl that others are using or recommend, but for $1.98 I just couldn't pass it up. I figured if it didn't work I could always purchase a different one. So far I'm happy with it.

thewang2005,

No, the control panel is not there during the playback of the movie, unless you want it there.