My goal: a "Better than the Arcade" Dance Dance Revolution experience. I'm on the third iteration of the Stepmania Studio. I still hope to add some el-wire and other funky enhancements.

The Stepmania Studio 3.0

The Studio

The Dance Pads were custom made by Brandon Jean. I've tried soft pads, arcade pads, and Cobalt Flux - these seem to me to have the best feel. I built a skirt around them out of birch plywood, and bolted that to the floor.

I'm using an InFocus X1 for projection. Bright enough for daytime projection, when used with a high-gain screen. (Picture taken in Studio 1.0)

I'm using a dedicated PC, 3.2ghz, 512M Ram. This hooks into an NAD amplifier. Everything including the rope lighting is plugged into a single power strip, so flipping the switch turns on the room. (Picture taken in Studio 2.0)

Me!

I installed a DA-LITE glass bead-surface screen which increases brightness quite a bit when viewed from head on. This setup is ideal for using a glass-bead surface since you're always viewing if from about as close to head-on as possible.

A couple of the artists from my company. (Studio 2.0)