Booth Bijou Garage Theater - Blu-ray Forum

MEB · 01-16-2011, 06:17 PM

First, let me say that, acoustically speaking, I fully realize a garage is not the ideal place to set up a home theater. Particularly our garage, which has a plastic floor. But our regular home theater room (our living room) is too small to comfortably seat more than 4-5 and my wife and I sometimes like to entertain a larger crowd. So, thus began the idea of temporarily converting our garage to a home theater. (Temporarily, because, we actually use our garage to park our cars.)

Thanks to a "garage makeover" I did about 5 years ago, our garage is actually an attractive place to hang out:

I've long since wanted to set up a home theater out there, but really didn't know how I wanted to go about it (other than it had to be something I could put up and take down fairly easily). Then, a few months ago, I came up with the idea of putting speaker and HDMI wall jacks behind the home theater gear in our living room, and connecting those jacks to matching jacks in the garage:

Those jacks allow me to easily move our existing front speakers and subwoofer out to the garage, and still connect them to our existing A/V receiver (and other gear) in the living room. And since all of our home theater gear was already set up to be controlled by RF remote, it's a piece of cake to control it all from the garage.

Or course, I did need to spend some money on a screen and projector. For the screen, I got a manual 120" 4:3 Accuscreen model for $150 on Amazon. For the projector, I was fortunate to find a used Sharp DLP model on eBay for $320. It's native resolution is 1024x768 but it does handle 720p and 1080i. The combo actually looks amazingly good, particularly for a total investment of less than $500. I mounted the screen to the ceiling in the garage using hooks. I found a projector ceiling mount for $45 on Amazon, one that could be pivoted up out of the way when not in use.

Those items, combined with the wall jacks, speaker wire, and some banana plugs brought the total expense to less than $650. Not too bad for occasional use and the ability to seat up to about 25 people and give them a nice "Booth Bijou" home theater experience:

Here's how it looks with the lights off (well, all but one light):

I've posted several more photos (with captions) to a photo gallery at my photo site. Including, photos of our living room gear, the surround speakers in the garage, and our Booth Bijou "Snack Bar" set up:

http://www.thephotobooth.net/Booth-B...58288909_wQQPL

That gallery also includes an 8-minute video (a recording of the actual screen image) demonstrating some of our Booth Bijou custom intros and other pre-movie entertainment. I run all of the intros and trailers from a Mac Mini home theater PC (controlled by a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse). Before I start the show, I have the main feature queued up and on pause in the Blu-ray player. When the pre-movie entertainment is finished, I activate a macro on my RF remote to switch the A/V receiver from the Mac Mini to the Blu-ray player. It works like a charm and really helps to emulate the whole "movie theater" experience. Our guests love it!

UPDATE: In October 2012, we added curtains, a new projector, and new surround speakers:

The projection screen is a 120" 4x3 screen. But now we only pull it down far enough to create a 16x9 aspect. That gives us a 105" screen. With a couple of chairs in place and the side lights on, this is what it looks like:

And with the side lights off:

UPDATE: In January 2013, we added a popcorn machine:

Mark

MEB · 01-16-2011, 06:22 PM

I guess I should also mention here (I posted it in one of the captions on my photo site) that we ask our guests to bring their own folding chair. Last night, for our screening of 'The Social Network', we had 20 chairs set up in the garage. I intended to take a photo with all of the chairs set up, but got too busy with our guests and the pizza that was being delivered and simply forgot.

Mark

solarrdadd · 01-16-2011, 06:45 PM

Howdy MEB, first let me say that we must learn to use the spaces we have and be satisfied with them be they a garage, a section of the basement, space in the attic it makes no difference. we should be proud of them too because some folks don't have that; hell some folks live on the street. acoustically speaking i'm sure it sounds fine and more than does the job!

I think also that the garage make-over you did looks great, i love it. i also love that you have created a dual use for it with the HT and there is NOTHING WRONG WITH IT! can't possibly get a more manly feel than the auto-repair look of the garage; what a great theme!

everything looks great, you have done a great job and using the larger space for larger crowds during movie night, sports events, gaming must be a great thing. the only thing you do need to do is create a gallery here at the forum so that i slap a 10 on it! by the way, I loved the video you made, very nice!

I'd feel honored to watch a movie or do some gaming in there with you knowing that afterward, you can help me change my oil! crack a cold one and turn it up baby!

now get your ass going on that gallery!

solarrdadd · 01-16-2011, 06:50 PM

i trust you are throwing a Super Bowl Party in the Garage!

4x12 · 01-16-2011, 06:59 PM

Great looking room! I love the intro you got done... Where does one get a custon intro like yours?

MEB · 01-16-2011, 07:06 PM

solarrdadd, Thanks for the nice words!

4x12, Your asking me to share the secret of my home theater intros so EVERYONE can have them? Ha, no way!

Just kidding!

They are easy as pie to create and the cost is minimal. Simply point your browser here:

http://vipidme.com/

I have NO AFFILIATION with that site. I simply read about it in another forum.

FWIW, I did do some additional editing to the intros once I got them from vipid. In some cases, their intros don't have any fades to/from black at the beginning/end. I imported them into iMovie and added some black frames and fades, plus adjusted the volume so the loudness was equalized across all of the intros.

Have fun!

Mark

MEB · 01-16-2011, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

i trust you are throwing a Super Bowl Party in the Garage!

We've discussed it!

Mark

MEB · 02-09-2016, 04:56 PM

The Booth Bijou is hosting a mid-week movie night this week. We affectionately refer to them as "geezer" movie nights, because, generally, only our retired friends will make it on a "school night".

We are showing:

I'm really looking forward to seeing both of these again. 'No Escape' is much better than the RT critic score suggests. In fact, when Cathy and were watching it in the theater, we agreed it was an excellent choice for the Booth Bijou. And 'The Intern' is absolutely hilarious!

Mark

MEB · 02-13-2016, 02:09 AM

Our guests loved 'No Escape' but they REALLY loved 'The Intern'! In fact, 'The Intern' generated more thank you emails than any movie we've shown prior! And justifiably so, it's a terrific comedy! Folks that haven't taken the time to see it don't know what they are missing!

Up next in the Booth Bijou Garage Theater.

Mark

Aerodude73 · 02-13-2016, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEB

Our guests loved 'No Escape' but they REALLY loved 'The Intern'! In fact, 'The Intern' generated more thank you emails than any movie we've shown prior! And justifiably so, it's a terrific comedy! Folks that haven't taken the time to see it don't know what they are missing!

Up next in the Booth Bijou Garage Theater.

[Show spoiler]

Mark

BoS is Excellent, loved it. Can't stand (sorry) Anne Hathaway, so unfortunately, I'll prob never watch The Intern

MEB · 02-16-2016, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerodude73

BoS is Excellent, loved it. Can't stand (sorry) Anne Hathaway, so unfortunately, I'll prob never watch The Intern

Dude, you are missing a VERY funny film in The Intern. And Anne Hathaway is terrific in the film!

Mark

Aerodude73 · 02-16-2016, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEB

Dude, you are missing a VERY funny film in The Intern. And Anne Hathaway is terrific in the film!

Mark

such is life

to Me, she always seems to be "Acting", if that makes any sense. I like more Natural actors/actresses, that style.

MEB · 10-04-2016, 05:18 PM

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted to my own thread!

Our Great Northern popcorn machine had an electrical short in July. The kettle somehow shorted out while making a batch of popcorn. The kettle was toast and, given the two problems I'd had with it in 3 or so years (thermal fuse failure and this electrical short), I decided the Great Northern brand isn't for me anymore. I spent some time researching various American-made machines and settled on the Gold Medal Lil' Maxx model #2389.

It's an 8-oz kettle (our Great Northern was 12-oz) but it has a larger bin than the Great Northern. I'll have to pop more batches, but there is more storage for the popped corn and I probably won't have to make additional batches between movies.

We we're on an extended road trip for most of September and, upon our return, I finally pulled the trigger on the Lil' Maxx. It's scheduled to be delivered next week. I ordered it from a Gold Medal Medallion dealer, which boosts the factory warranty from 6 months labor and 2 years parts to 1 year labor and 3 years parts. It costs more to get it from a Medallion dealer (generally speaking) but the service is excellent. They will deliver it to my garage theater, unbox it, inspect for shipping damage, place the popper exactly where I want it, then haul away the shipping materials.

The Booth Bijou Garage Theater has been on hiatus since mid-August. We will be showing our first movies of the Fall season ('Money Monster' & 'The Nice Guys') late next week. I'm really looking forward to making the first batch in the new popper!

Mark

MEB · 10-14-2016, 01:14 AM

Hooray! The Booth Bijou Garage Theater can make fresh popcorn again!!

Mark

MEB · 10-16-2016, 01:51 PM

Wow, wow, wow! Used the Gold Medal Lil' Maxx for seven 8-oz batches last night. It is amazing how much better it does at popping corn compared to the Great Northern machine it replaced! Wow!

1) Every popped kernel received some coating of the coconut oil/Flavocal. With the GN machine, the last half of the popped kernels came out completely white. And, yes, the amount of coconut oil and Flavocal was adjust appropriate to the size of the kettle. The Gold Medal machine simply allowed the popped kernels to receive a more even distribution of the oil!

2) Same brand of popcorn (same bag, in fact), the Gold Medal machine popped kernels were noticably more plump (larger) and more tender & crisp.

3) VERY few old maids! I mean, maybe 20-30 old maids total out of seven batches! The Great Northern machine left 15-20 old maids per batch!

4) Faster! The Gold Medal kettle heats faster and pops faster! The difference was quite noticeable!

I love this new machine!! Short video:

http://www.thephotobooth.net/Booth-B...PXZL/i-zmJmQJg

Mark

MEB · 10-30-2016, 05:41 PM

Lights, camera, ACTION! Coming this week to the Booth Bijou Garage Theater.

This event is already "sold out" with a waiting list.

Mark

Mike16 · 10-30-2016, 10:11 PM

^ What do you do for the film showings that "sell out" ? Do you offer a 2nd night for those that didn't RSVP in time to make the first showing?

MEB · 11-01-2016, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike16

^ What do you do for the film showings that "sell out" ? Do you offer a 2nd night for those that didn't RSVP in time to make the first showing?

It's first to reserve, first to grab a spot. Once we get our maximum number of guests I send out an email that all spots are taken and we start a waiting list in case someone cancels.

For popular films, it is common that we'll have 2-4 friends on the waiting list. About 50% of the time the first couple on the waiting list eventually ends up with spots.

Mark

MEB · 11-07-2016, 10:19 PM

Coming next to the Booth Bijou Garage Theater...

Mark

Aerodude73 · 11-08-2016, 06:59 AM

hey bud, have you seen (or planning to) "Hacksaw Ridge" yet? Awesome movie!! Mel is back, baby!

My review is in the movie's thread (& mine), but suffice to say, best WWII movie since Sav Pvt Ryan. Amazing job by the cast, and Mel is a shoo-in for Best Director & Best Picture, as is Andrew Garfield for Best Actor & Hugo Weaving (tremendous here!) for Supp Actor, as his father. (Sound, Sound Effects Editing, Editing, Orig. Score, Cinematography, are All worthy candidates to get a nomination as well).

01-16-2011, 06:17 PM	#1
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	Booth Bijou Garage Theater First, let me say that, acoustically speaking, I fully realize a garage is not the ideal place to set up a home theater. Particularly our garage, which has a plastic floor. But our regular home theater room (our living room) is too small to comfortably seat more than 4-5 and my wife and I sometimes like to entertain a larger crowd. So, thus began the idea of temporarily converting our garage to a home theater. (Temporarily, because, we actually use our garage to park our cars.) Thanks to a "garage makeover" I did about 5 years ago, our garage is actually an attractive place to hang out: I've long since wanted to set up a home theater out there, but really didn't know how I wanted to go about it (other than it had to be something I could put up and take down fairly easily). Then, a few months ago, I came up with the idea of putting speaker and HDMI wall jacks behind the home theater gear in our living room, and connecting those jacks to matching jacks in the garage: Those jacks allow me to easily move our existing front speakers and subwoofer out to the garage, and still connect them to our existing A/V receiver (and other gear) in the living room. And since all of our home theater gear was already set up to be controlled by RF remote, it's a piece of cake to control it all from the garage. Or course, I did need to spend some money on a screen and projector. For the screen, I got a manual 120" 4:3 Accuscreen model for $150 on Amazon. For the projector, I was fortunate to find a used Sharp DLP model on eBay for $320. It's native resolution is 1024x768 but it does handle 720p and 1080i. The combo actually looks amazingly good, particularly for a total investment of less than $500. I mounted the screen to the ceiling in the garage using hooks. I found a projector ceiling mount for $45 on Amazon, one that could be pivoted up out of the way when not in use. Those items, combined with the wall jacks, speaker wire, and some banana plugs brought the total expense to less than $650. Not too bad for occasional use and the ability to seat up to about 25 people and give them a nice "Booth Bijou" home theater experience: Here's how it looks with the lights off (well, all but one light): I've posted several more photos (with captions) to a photo gallery at my photo site. Including, photos of our living room gear, the surround speakers in the garage, and our Booth Bijou "Snack Bar" set up: http://www.thephotobooth.net/Booth-B...58288909_wQQPL That gallery also includes an 8-minute video (a recording of the actual screen image) demonstrating some of our Booth Bijou custom intros and other pre-movie entertainment. I run all of the intros and trailers from a Mac Mini home theater PC (controlled by a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse). Before I start the show, I have the main feature queued up and on pause in the Blu-ray player. When the pre-movie entertainment is finished, I activate a macro on my RF remote to switch the A/V receiver from the Mac Mini to the Blu-ray player. It works like a charm and really helps to emulate the whole "movie theater" experience. Our guests love it! UPDATE: In October 2012, we added curtains, a new projector, and new surround speakers: The projection screen is a 120" 4x3 screen. But now we only pull it down far enough to create a 16x9 aspect. That gives us a 105" screen. With a couple of chairs in place and the side lights on, this is what it looks like: And with the side lights off: UPDATE: In January 2013, we added a popcorn machine: Mark Last edited by MEB; 01-30-2013 at 11:14 PM.

01-16-2011, 06:22 PM	#2
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	I guess I should also mention here (I posted it in one of the captions on my photo site) that we ask our guests to bring their own folding chair. Last night, for our screening of 'The Social Network', we had 20 chairs set up in the garage. I intended to take a photo with all of the chairs set up, but got too busy with our guests and the pizza that was being delivered and simply forgot. Mark

01-16-2011, 06:45 PM	#3
solarrdadd Blu-ray Prince Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Jul 2008 Location:Virginia Home Theater Gallery:255 4K collection:209 Blu-ray collection:1344 DVD collection:4 Blu-ray reviews: 42 Trading Score:316	Howdy MEB, first let me say that we must learn to use the spaces we have and be satisfied with them be they a garage, a section of the basement, space in the attic it makes no difference. we should be proud of them too because some folks don't have that; hell some folks live on the street. acoustically speaking i'm sure it sounds fine and more than does the job! I think also that the garage make-over you did looks great, i love it. i also love that you have created a dual use for it with the HT and there is NOTHING WRONG WITH IT! can't possibly get a more manly feel than the auto-repair look of the garage; what a great theme! everything looks great, you have done a great job and using the larger space for larger crowds during movie night, sports events, gaming must be a great thing. the only thing you do need to do is create a gallery here at the forum so that i slap a 10 on it! by the way, I loved the video you made, very nice! I'd feel honored to watch a movie or do some gaming in there with you knowing that afterward, you can help me change my oil! crack a cold one and turn it up baby! now get your ass going on that gallery!

01-16-2011, 06:50 PM	#4
solarrdadd Blu-ray Prince Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Jul 2008 Location:Virginia Home Theater Gallery:255 4K collection:209 Blu-ray collection:1344 DVD collection:4 Blu-ray reviews: 42 Trading Score:316	i trust you are throwing a Super Bowl Party in the Garage!

01-16-2011, 06:59 PM	#5
4x12 Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Dec 2008 Location:Berthierville, Qc Home Theater Gallery:70 Blu-ray collection:536 Blu-ray reviews: 10	Great looking room! I love the intro you got done... Where does one get a custon intro like yours?

01-16-2011, 07:06 PM	#6
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	solarrdadd, Thanks for the nice words! 4x12, Your asking me to share the secret of my home theater intros so EVERYONE can have them? Ha, no way! Just kidding! They are easy as pie to create and the cost is minimal. Simply point your browser here: http://vipidme.com/ I have NO AFFILIATION with that site. I simply read about it in another forum. FWIW, I did do some additional editing to the intros once I got them from vipid. In some cases, their intros don't have any fades to/from black at the beginning/end. I imported them into iMovie and added some black frames and fades, plus adjusted the volume so the loudness was equalized across all of the intros. Have fun! Mark

02-09-2016, 04:56 PM	#8
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	The Booth Bijou is hosting a mid-week movie night this week. We affectionately refer to them as "geezer" movie nights, because, generally, only our retired friends will make it on a "school night". We are showing: I'm really looking forward to seeing both of these again. 'No Escape' is much better than the RT critic score suggests. In fact, when Cathy and were watching it in the theater, we agreed it was an excellent choice for the Booth Bijou. And 'The Intern' is absolutely hilarious! Mark

02-13-2016, 02:09 AM	#9
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	Our guests loved 'No Escape' but they REALLY loved 'The Intern'! In fact, 'The Intern' generated more thank you emails than any movie we've shown prior! And justifiably so, it's a terrific comedy! Folks that haven't taken the time to see it don't know what they are missing! Up next in the Booth Bijou Garage Theater. Mark

10-04-2016, 05:18 PM	#13
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	Wow, it's been awhile since I posted to my own thread! Our Great Northern popcorn machine had an electrical short in July. The kettle somehow shorted out while making a batch of popcorn. The kettle was toast and, given the two problems I'd had with it in 3 or so years (thermal fuse failure and this electrical short), I decided the Great Northern brand isn't for me anymore. I spent some time researching various American-made machines and settled on the Gold Medal Lil' Maxx model #2389. It's an 8-oz kettle (our Great Northern was 12-oz) but it has a larger bin than the Great Northern. I'll have to pop more batches, but there is more storage for the popped corn and I probably won't have to make additional batches between movies. We we're on an extended road trip for most of September and, upon our return, I finally pulled the trigger on the Lil' Maxx. It's scheduled to be delivered next week. I ordered it from a Gold Medal Medallion dealer, which boosts the factory warranty from 6 months labor and 2 years parts to 1 year labor and 3 years parts. It costs more to get it from a Medallion dealer (generally speaking) but the service is excellent. They will deliver it to my garage theater, unbox it, inspect for shipping damage, place the popper exactly where I want it, then haul away the shipping materials. The Booth Bijou Garage Theater has been on hiatus since mid-August. We will be showing our first movies of the Fall season ('Money Monster' & 'The Nice Guys') late next week. I'm really looking forward to making the first batch in the new popper! Mark

10-14-2016, 01:14 AM	#14
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	Hooray! The Booth Bijou Garage Theater can make fresh popcorn again!! Mark

10-16-2016, 01:51 PM	#15
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	Wow, wow, wow! Used the Gold Medal Lil' Maxx for seven 8-oz batches last night. It is amazing how much better it does at popping corn compared to the Great Northern machine it replaced! Wow! 1) Every popped kernel received some coating of the coconut oil/Flavocal. With the GN machine, the last half of the popped kernels came out completely white. And, yes, the amount of coconut oil and Flavocal was adjust appropriate to the size of the kettle. The Gold Medal machine simply allowed the popped kernels to receive a more even distribution of the oil! 2) Same brand of popcorn (same bag, in fact), the Gold Medal machine popped kernels were noticably more plump (larger) and more tender & crisp. 3) VERY few old maids! I mean, maybe 20-30 old maids total out of seven batches! The Great Northern machine left 15-20 old maids per batch! 4) Faster! The Gold Medal kettle heats faster and pops faster! The difference was quite noticeable! I love this new machine!! Short video: http://www.thephotobooth.net/Booth-B...PXZL/i-zmJmQJg Mark

10-30-2016, 05:41 PM	#16
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	Lights, camera, ACTION! Coming this week to the Booth Bijou Garage Theater. This event is already "sold out" with a waiting list. Mark

10-30-2016, 10:11 PM	#17
Mike16 Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Jun 2012 Location:Upstate New York; SE Kentucky Blu-ray collection:108 DVD collection:12	^ What do you do for the film showings that "sell out" ? Do you offer a 2nd night for those that didn't RSVP in time to make the first showing?

11-07-2016, 10:19 PM	#19
MEB Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2009 Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:1446 DVD collection:71 iTunes collection:21 Trading Score:1	Coming next to the Booth Bijou Garage Theater... Mark

11-08-2016, 06:59 AM	#20
Aerodude73 Blu-ray Archduke Member since:Oct 2008 Location:Middletown, RI (MEMBER OF THE "ECPP")™ Home Theater Gallery:134 4K collection:423 Blu-ray collection:2493 DVD collection:7 Digital collection:3 Blu-ray reviews:9 Trading Score:31	hey bud, have you seen (or planning to) "Hacksaw Ridge" yet? Awesome movie!! Mel is back, baby! My review is in the movie's thread (& mine), but suffice to say, best WWII movie since Sav Pvt Ryan. Amazing job by the cast, and Mel is a shoo-in for Best Director & Best Picture, as is Andrew Garfield for Best Actor & Hugo Weaving (tremendous here!) for Supp Actor, as his father. (Sound, Sound Effects Editing, Editing, Orig. Score, Cinematography, are All worthy candidates to get a nomination as well).

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