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HELP - Control Panel Overlay Design and Production


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I have a build thread - http://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/71701-New-Build-First-Build - I am well progressed in my first MAME cabinet build and this has been such a useful resource and assistance to me. But I am now into territory where I am having difficulty I have now reached the point of the Control Panel and need for some artful works around joystick, spinner and button placements.

 

So apologies in advance if there is a Sticky or other thread which covers these issues for a newbie like myself, I just couldn't find anything to help me out sufficiently to get a decent start.

 

I have to profess no experience in this field although I am reasonably computer literate and can pick up things reasonably quickly. I would love some guidance. Is there any advice to be provided to a novice like me who doesn't have Photoshop (never used it)? I do have an old copy of Visio for drawing.

 

What programs do BYOAC hobbyists use to produce their CPO's? Are there templates or graphics libraries for the commonly used icons, button and joystick surrounds, background graphics, icons, fonts etc - that would make the life of a novice like me easier?

 

I have acrylic / plexi sheeting to go over the control panel, so is it customary to use applied vinyl graphics as the CPO or just sandwich the printed artwork between the control panel and the acrylic?

 

Last questions - where to get this produced, assuming I can get some direction on what to produce the art to scale? What are the methods used most commonly to save these pieces of artwork to scale and then have them available for printing / production. I'm in Brisbane.

 

Any and all suggestions and advice deeply appreciated.

 

Cheers

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If you want good software I highly recommend inkscape, which is a completely free and very powerful vector drawing program. It's easy to use, but of course the truth of that statement may vary depending on your previous experience with similar programs. But there is a wealth of online help in forums and guides, so I would imagine most computer literate people could get to grips with it quite easily.

 

Most graphics surrounding buttons and joysticks are fairly simple geometric shapes, I don't think you'd have much trouble drawing them yourself in a program such as inkscape.

 

No real arcade cabinet that I've ever played on in my life has had a sheet of acrylic over the top of the vinyl, so I must confess that I am puzzled by how common this practice is among mame cab builders. Maybe I just didn't play on the right cabs, or perhaps there is a good reason I'm unaware of. I would recommend applying adhesive vinyl straight to the control panel surface.

 

I would contact the user mamepatrol, he printed the artwork for my cab (you can see it in my paradise arcade thread), he will be able to answer a lot of your questions regarding the specifics of the printing. He's not in Brisbane but the postage was not expensive.

 

Saving the artwork to scale is simple, if you did end up using inkscape for example, then you just make sure you set your units to mm and build your artwork to the correct size. When you're done you can export the image as a PNG file and specify the DPI to whatever resolution the vinyl printer recommends (usually about 300 dpi).

 

Happy to provide any help with using inkscape if you choose that route, I truly can't say enough good things about this program.

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If you want good software I highly recommend inkscape, which is a completely free and very powerful vector drawing program. It's easy to use, but of course the truth of that statement may vary depending on your previous experience with similar programs. But there is a wealth of online help in forums and guides, so I would imagine most computer literate people could get to grips with it quite easily.

 

Most graphics surrounding buttons and joysticks are fairly simple geometric shapes, I don't think you'd have much trouble drawing them yourself in a program such as inkscape.

 

No real arcade cabinet that I've ever played on in my life has had a sheet of acrylic over the top of the vinyl, so I must confess that I am puzzled by how common this practice is among mame cab builders. Maybe I just didn't play on the right cabs, or perhaps there is a good reason I'm unaware of. I would recommend applying adhesive vinyl straight to the control panel surface.

 

I would contact the user mamepatrol, he printed the artwork for my cab (you can see it in my paradise arcade thread), he will be able to answer a lot of your questions regarding the specifics of the printing. He's not in Brisbane but the postage was not expensive.

 

Saving the artwork to scale is simple, if you did end up using inkscape for example, then you just make sure you set your units to mm and build your artwork to the correct size. When you're done you can export the image as a PNG file and specify the DPI to whatever resolution the vinyl printer recommends (usually about 300 dpi).

 

Happy to provide any help with using inkscape if you choose that route, I truly can't say enough good things about this program.

 

Thanks heaps for the comments and suggestions. I don't recall too many control panels on arcades having an acrylic panel over the top but there were a couple. My reading is that they are often used to make the graphic "pop" out better. My design is based on someone much more talented than I so I am basically copying most aspects of his work. I do have to work through how to cut the Suntuf panel on the curve so I may end up trashing the idea of the cover anyway.

 

I have played with Inkscape so thanks for the recommendation, and also the tips on scaling and saving - very helpful. And I'll look closely at mamepatrol too.

 

Cheers

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Don't forget there is also a whole section devoted to this topic in the Arcade Forum section.

 

Search and ye shall find all you need to know and more.

 

 

Thanks Sade_Rock - funny - I found that section easily when I looked last night via Tapatalk on my mobile but not on the main site through the PC. I'll use some better defined searches to look for posts there.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

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Which suntuf product are you using? The clear PVC sheet? That's what I used in front of my monitor but I'm not very happy with the clarity of it, it has parallel linear imperfections across the surface. I looked at their acrylic but it was incredibly soft.

 

The PVC cuts fairly easily though, I think you'd have a good chance of cutting a curve in it with a jigsaw, but you might need a sacrificial piece of wood under it that you cut at the same time or else it'll probably vibrate too much. once cut you could sand it smooth.

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Which suntuf product are you using? The clear PVC sheet? That's what I used in front of my monitor but I'm not very happy with the clarity of it, it has parallel linear imperfections across the surface. I looked at their acrylic but it was incredibly soft.

 

The PVC cuts fairly easily though, I think you'd have a good chance of cutting a curve in it with a jigsaw, but you might need a sacrificial piece of wood under it that you cut at the same time or else it'll probably vibrate too much. once cut you could sand it smooth.

 

Yeah - I'm using the SunTuf clear product too. I haven't pulled off the protective layer to see how the screen looks as I have a rather snug fit to the home made bezel and monitor - I want to wait until I have finished painting the cabinet sides. Geez - I hope it's ok - it wasn't really cheap when considering the rest of the build. Are you replacing it or living with it? If replacing what have you come up with as another option. Will let you know how I go when I put it in and test it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion on the cutting. Will give it a go.

 

Cheers

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Yeah - I'm using the SunTuf clear product too. I haven't pulled off the protective layer to see how the screen looks as I have a rather snug fit to the home made bezel and monitor - I want to wait until I have finished painting the cabinet sides. Geez - I hope it's ok - it wasn't really cheap when considering the rest of the build. Are you replacing it or living with it? If replacing what have you come up with as another option. Will let you know how I go when I put it in and test it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion on the cutting. Will give it a go.

 

Cheers

 

For now I'll leave it, because I just want to play the cabinet and not worry about modifying it for a while. Also because I didn't give adequate thought to how I would mount my plexi and bezel,and it ended up being a real pain to secure in place, with some very difficult to access screws (for my next project every detail will be fully planned out before I even start buildling!).

 

When I do replace it I will use good quality clear acrylic sheet custom cut to the same size. I was lucky that I had to order a bunch of custom cut clear acrylic at work and because that order had a minimum cost (basically the cost of the whole 1600x800mm sheet) I just added my marquee acrylic onto the order for no added expense. The acrylic I got for that is crystal clear and also very rigid (the suntuf pvc is quite flexible by comparison). I wish I had been able to put my monitor plexi on that order as well but there wasn't enough space left on the sheet :/

 

I think ideally glass is better. But because of my poor planning I'd have to make some significant modifications in order to support a piece of glass which a) is heavier and b) i can't just drill holes in and screw to the back edge of the speaker panel.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Also, I have noticed that the imperfections in the suntuf panel are more noticable the further away I'm standing, and also towards the edges of the screen which because of the curve of the tube are further away from the panel - hopefully that makes sense. So with an LCD, and if your suntuf panel is quite close to your screen, I have a feeling you may have no problem, or less problems that me.

 

I should stress that the problem is relatively minor, and once I'm playing a game I don't notice it at all. Anyway, I guess you'll find out how it looks when you get to that point :)

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A quick update on this from a first time builder. I think most of my reservations about the CPO artwork and appearance came from a lack of clarity about theme. BMOC (thanks!!) actually helped me when I visited his build and looked at the rationale behind the artwork he chose. That's made it so much easier for me as I now have a firmed up theme.

 

Have used Inkscape to pull the marquee and CPO designs together and am just fine-tuning a bit here and there. It helps to print it (which I used Visio for as I can print to A3 and just move the image to different parts of the page and print them), stick it together and lay it over the top of the cabinet where it will eventually go just to check the feel of it.

 

Cheers and thanks for the insights!

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  • 11 months later...

 

When I do replace it I will use good quality clear acrylic sheet custom cut to the same size. I was lucky that I had to order a bunch of custom cut clear acrylic at work and because that order had a minimum cost (basically the cost of the whole 1600x800mm sheet) I just added my marquee acrylic onto the order for no added expense. The acrylic I got for that is crystal clear and also very rigid (the suntuf pvc is quite flexible by comparison). I wish I had been able to put my monitor plexi on that order as well but there wasn't enough space left on the sheet :/

 

 

Hi BMOC

 

Do you remember where you got that good quality clear acrylic sheet from? I need something thats scratch resistant and can take a bit of abuse.

 

Cheers

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Hi BMOC

 

Do you remember where you got that good quality clear acrylic sheet from? I need something thats scratch resistant and can take a bit of abuse.

 

Cheers

 

I got it here http://www.plasticwholesale.com.au/ but I can't necessarily speak to it's scratch resistance. I only used it on my marquee and that doesn't really get bumped since it's up and out of the way.

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Unfortunately yes, as that's the price of a full sheet. I ordered a bunch of custom cut pieces for research purposes (paid for by the university) and just added a couple extra pieces onto the order for my marquee, as it didn't add to the cost. I wouldn't have spent that much of my own money.

 

It's worth looking for offcuts on ebay.

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