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Hey just wondering where i can find a 2 screen cinema floor plan

If you give me your email I could email you our design.

Do size your auditoriums to provide a "big screen" experience, with most seats in the range of 2 to 4 times the image height from the screen, per SMPTE 196M. Usually best to use side masking, and show all images with the same height. Equip to show the 2.39:1, 1.85:1 (mainstay features) and perhaps the 1.66:1 and 1.37:1 aspect ratios (mostly art films) with the image areas specified by SMPTE 195. Avoid designing very short throws, as very short focal lenght lenses tend to be more sensitive to focus issues. Keep the projection beam as close to orthogonal to the screen as possible (least possible angle) to minimize keystone distortion.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: +1 585-477-5325 Cell: +1 585-781-4036 Fax: +1 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Hey, SamCat, could you send me blueprints? My address is grandcameo @ hotmail . com!

[This message has been edited by Andrew McCrea (edited August 15, 2005).]

Hi John
Just wondering what you mean by
with most seats in the range of 2 to 4 times the image height from the screen, per SMPTE 196M.

Talk Soon

Sam

If your screen is 20 x 48 feet in size, your "best" seats are in the range of 40 to 80 feet from the screen (2 to 4 times the height). If you have a smaller 10 x 24 foot screen, the best seats are between 20 and 40 feet from the screen.

Note that if you sit at the same multiple of image height from the screen, the perceived image size is the same, regardless of the size of the screen. For 35mm, closer than 2 times the screen height sometimes makes graininess too apparent. Much farther than 5 screen heights, you might as well be watching a TV screen for the little detail you will see.

Always maintain the proper image composition, as specified by standard SMPTE 195:
http://www.kodak.com/US/plugins/acrobat/en/motion/newsletters/archived/pytlak/composition.pdf

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: +1 585-477-5325 Cell: +1 585-781-4036 Fax: +1 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Hi John

Just thinking what are your thoughts to cinemas that think they
have fairly good size throws but doesn't meet four times screen height.

Like it is interesting because I always a slightly off square cinema was a fairly good design but I guess the best design is alot more like a rectangle than a square.
I guess alot of our cinemas are designed with a throw about three times the screen height but the one that is alot like a rectangle probably has the best % of good seats.
Most cinemas today like to get large screen widths, like some screens are 20-28 metres wide, which also make it harder to get a good throw if they are constrained to keep it to a certain amount of square feet/metres because of cost constraints.


What are peoples thoughts on throw compared to cinema width or screen width?

Curved screens and seats compared to flat?

Where to put the isles?

Image height from the floor to bottom of the screen?

SHould the cinema also be designed to include sightlines for children?

Have you come across the best SMPTE standards or books to buy for somebody like me who wants to learn more about cinema design?

Talk Soon

Sam

There is an excellent technical paper about theatre design:

"Design of Large-Screen Motion Picture Theatres" by Will Szabo, March 1976 SMPTE Journal, Volume 85, page 159.

It covers topics such as sightlines, image size, slope, etc.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: +1 585-477-5325 Cell: +1 585-781-4036 Fax: +1 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Sancat,,,
I would like a copy of your 2-screen cinema floorplan..
Can yo send one to me..
dmason @ phoenixcomputerlabs . com
..
I would also like a 4-screen floor plan as well.....
..
We are in the planning stage and haven't nailed down whether we want to do a 2 or 4 screen (we have over 90K population within 5-miles - but don't see financial support for 6 screens (so the finance experts are telling us)..
...
Thanks
Dave

Hello John. Its great to see a fellow Rochestarian on here. Anyways, I may be aquiring a theatre locally. If this happens, could you help me out with a big screen?

Paulii,

John won't be answering your post. John Pytlak passed away some years back. He was an Oscar winner (in a technical category) and an active forum member who contributed a lot to these boards prior to his death. You can find much of his wisdom by searching old posts.

still really nice to see his name and posts and that his contributions live on. That's a bot of immortality!

I also could use a hand with layout ideas. I have a 45x55 room with 22ft ceilings. Trying to figure out seating capacity and max screen size. Also how many screens. Seating would need to be stadium and we would need adequate space for restaurant food service. Anyone have any sample plans that include seating similar to a Cinebarre or Cinetopia? Or even just a seats/sqft ballpark? I'll post a pic when I get to my computer.

Hi SamCat,

I'm in the process of starting new 2 screen theater. I'd love to see your design. If you wouldn't mind emailing it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thank you

sorry but it is not possible to do this without seeing exits/entrys/ where projection will be/ rest rooms/ concession etc. etc. M