How-To Create Arcade Machine Artwork for your DIY Arcade Cabinet
Arcade Marquee, Controller and Side Panel Art Information
Hey all! I have been taking a brief break with the birth of my friend’s son. I have had a bunch of stuff to do around the house so I have been playing handy man for the past week or so.
Coming back to my DIY Arcade Machine project we are going to be taking a look at how to handle the Artwork for the Arcade Cabinet.
When working on Arcade Machine Artwork there are several paths you can take.
- Commercial Artwork
- Digital Artwork
- Hand Crafted Artwork
Each of these methods has its Pros and Cons so whichever method you decide on will be dependant on factors like time, budget, materials, patience, & talent. These are generalizations but they are good to keep in mind as you approach this side of your Home Built Arcade Machine project.
Let’s take a look at each one and discuss how they might apply to your project along with the Pros and Cons of each. I have not implemented any of these methods into my DIY Arcade Machine yet, so at the moment I am just discussing considerations I have made regarding each one.
Commercial Artwork for a Home Built MAME Arcade Machine
The first common option a lot of people use as an approach is Commercial Arcade Machine artwork.
There are many companies online that specialize in crafting and printing original and custom Marquee Artwork, Side Panel Artwork, Controller Artwork and more.
The benefit of using a company like this is because they specialize in what they do they understand the nature of your project and are able to work with you to get the exact artwork you want for your home built Arcade Machine.
Another benefit of going this route is the companies can save you time and energy since you do not need to produce the artwork yourself. For a general MAME Arcade Machine they usually have several sample templates to choose from and in many cases you can provide your own artwork.
The one drawback of using a service like this is the cost. If you are building an Arcade Machine on budget using a commercial service might not be the best option as it will add on additional costs to your Arcade Machine.
Overall this is a good method that yields professional quality results, but requires a larger budget for your project.
Digital Artwork for a DIY MAME Arcade Cabinet
Creating Digital Artwork for your MAME Arcade Machine is another option some people choose. It usually involves the use of a graphics or photo editing software.
This is a pretty common method people use at some point during the planning and design of the Artwork for their Arcade Machine. Even in cases where people are planning to purchase commercial Artwork for their Arcade Machine, they may custom design the Artwork in a digital editing program first.
The benefits of using this method are that you have a lot of control over the Artwork for the project itself. I am a control freak, and like to have a lot of control over the projects I do so it is hard to leave something in someone elses hands.
Another benefit is this method tends to be more cost effective than having Arcade Machine Artwork professionally printed by a company. If you are working on a budget this can be a good alternative that yields a good look for your Arcade Cabinet.
The draw backs to using this method are that you need good digital editing software to achieve high quality results. If you already have this software you are good to go, but if you do not the cost of the software itself may outweigh having the artwork printed by a company. (Unless you can get it at a discount or from a friend.)
Another factor to consider is the time involved. Custom designing your own artwork gives your Arcade Machine a more unique feel but at the same time takes a lot of time, especially if you are unfamiliar with digital editing software.
Overall this is a good method that generally saves you money, and yields quality results if you are patient and know how to work with digital editing software. This method also requires you to have access to some type of digital editing software.
Hand Crafted Artwork for a Build it Yourself Arcade Machine
The last common method for Arcade Artwork is what I would refer to as “hand crafted” meaning any type of artwork that is done primarily by hand. This can consist of spray painting, hand painting, drawing, and even digitizing hand drawn artwork.
This is probably the most time consuming method that has the highest level of skill associated with it. The reason I say this is because some people are really good at producing hand made artwork, and I would consider that a talent that not everyone has. A person’s level of skill will directly affect the quality of the Arcade Artwork and the amount of time involved with this method.
The benefit of Hand Crafted Arcade Machine Artwork is it can be one of the cheapest methods possible for decorating your Arcade System. It also offers a good sense of satisfaction when you have created something entirely from scratch.
At the same time this can be one of the most difficult methods of doing Artwork for an Arcade Machine. This is mainly because this method requires the highest amount of skill and usually requires more time then the other two methods we have already discussed.
Overall I feel that Hand Crafted Artwork can be a good alternative if you have the skills to do it and are working on a budget. The supplies needed for most hand drawn or hand painted artwork are relatively cheap so you can save money on the overall project. The thing to keep in mind is that it requires artistic talent to create the type of results most people are shooting for with their Arcade Machine. It also requires the most time of all the methods I have discussed.
Arcade Machine Artwork Considerations Summary
So now that we have covered all of the common methods people use to create Artwork for their Arcade Machine we need to evaluate our project, our budget and our skill-set to determine which method/s will work best for our individual projects.
Since I am interested in exploring many different angels for building an Arcade Machine I am planning to incorporate each of these methods into the Artwork for my DIY MAME Arcade Machine.
At the moment I am thinking I will be creating Digital Artwork for the Marquee and Side Panels of my Arcade Machine and approaching two different companies to get the Artwork produced.
For the Arcade Controls I am going to try and use a combination of Digital Artwork and Hand Crafted Artwork to create the look I am going for.
This will allow me to experiment with each method to see what I like the best, and it will also allow me to provide readers with information on things I learn about each method.
Thanks for checking out the site. In the next several articles I will focus on each of the individual Arcade Machine Artwork methods we have discussed here and go into greater detail on each one. Keep checking back for the latest news on my DIY MAME Arcade Machine Project. ^-^
Pictures – DIY ROM Arcade Machine Construction – Part 1
Building a DIY Arcade System – How-To Guide and Tips
Behold the first shots of the DIY ROM Arcade Machine! With the help of a friend I was finally able to start on the construction of the Arcade System this weekend.
The shots below are of us building the Arcade System based on the designs I posted in my previous article:
Build Your Own Arcade Machine - Plans, Designs & Guide
My friend is a commercial carpenter and really helped me out a lot because I don’t have the best wood working skills in the world. He also gave me a lot of great tips that I will share below. For extended details about the pictures checkout my Flickr account here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diyromarcade/
I started taking pictures from the beginning of the construction process so I have quite a few from the first part of the build so far. My friend started cutting some of the pieces ahead of time, but waited to do the side panels so we could take some pictures of how that was done.
(NOTE: I have only featured key photos from the construction in this article. To see all the pictures with extended details and tips checkout my Flickr account at the link listed above.)
01. We started out by getting the building materials. In this case we are using MDF, and PBR. The MDF was on sale at $12.50 for a 8 ft’. by 4 ft’ sheet and the PBR was regular price, $15 for a 30 pack. ^_^
02. My friend pre-cut many of the standard shaped pieces. We figured most people wouldn’t have any trouble cutting out a square. The two tips he gave me here are that if you are using an 8’ ft. by 4’ ft. piece of MDF you can cut all the square pieces in my design out from one strip of wood off the side. This leaves you with a large piece that you can cut the two side panels out of and still have some left over for a controller and misc purposes. Also when you measure your pieces take into account that your saw blade is usually about 1/8 of an inch thick. That means you need to add an eighth of an inch onto each piece you draw (measure) out onto your MDF, otherwise once you cut 8 pieces out the final piece will be almost an inch too short.
03. To transfer the side panels to MDF as accurately as possible we used protractors, and a compass to get the angles correct. My initial plans are a little rough and do not include these angles. I will be adding an updated set of plans to the site that include this information.
04. Once the first side panel was cut out we used it as a stencil for the second side panel. When you trace your initial side panel the second panel will be slightly larger because it was traced from the original. This is to be expected and can be fixed with a router to make the pieces match perfectly.
05. Once both the side panels have been cut out we clamped them together so we could router the edges to get both pieces to be a perfect match. It is crucial that the two pieces do not move when you are using the router to get the most even edge possible.
06. We used a table saw to cut a bunch of small strips of wood to be used as cleats in the construction of the Arcade Machine. These are extremely useful for anchoring your panels together to get really clean seams between the wood. It also helps you avoid splitting the MDF by trying to screw directly into a piece of half inch board.
07. Using a piece of scrap wood we drew guidelines for the cleats. Use a piece of wood as thick as your panels and line it up as close to flush as possible with your side panel. Then trace a line so you know the width of the panel. Once you have guidelines for all the sides you will be attaching panels to you will know exactly where your cleats need to go.
08. Measure your side panels so you know how long the cleats will need to be. They do not need to run the full length of the panel. It is a good idea to leave an inch off of the ends for installing the other cleats and in areas that you think may be a tight fit for other parts of your Arcade Machine. Once you have them measured, cut the pieces to size and fit them into place.
09. Here we have measured and fitted the cleats into place. We cut them down to size and then used wood glue to attach them to the side panels. Once they had been attached we stapled them in place to ensure a solid construction. If you do not have access to a pneumatic staple gun you should be able to use standard screws to attach your cleats. Make sure you drill holes before attempting to screw into your MDF.
10. The controller area on the system was pretty tight so we had to make a mount for the panels out of scrap MDF. My friend showed me a good way to do this.
To make a piece that will fit perfectly cover the area you need to make the piece for in masking tape. Overlay the tape slightly on the edges to create a piece of paper. Since masking tape is thin you should be able to see the lines you traced through the tape. Use a ruler to trace the shape onto the tape. Take your scrap wood and then line up a straight edge on the tape to the straight edge on the wood. You can now use a saw to cut out a perfectly sized piece. Checkout my Flickr pictures for more shots of this.
11. Once all the cleats are in place on the side panels the front, bottom, top, and back panels can all be fixed into place fairly easily. We wood glued all the pieces and then used the staple gun to fix them into place.
12. Once the rear panel was in place we moved onto the front panels and the controller section.
13. Doing some small touches like rear mounted screws for easy access to the inside of the Arcade System. We also took the router and rounded the corners in the shape of the side panel to give the system a more authentic look.
14. A shot looking into the front of the Arcade Machine. Here the side panels, top and bottom are all in place. Now we need to focus on the controller area and bottom front panels.
15. We dry fit the front panels into place and because of the angles on the controller section we had to re-cut some of the edges on the pieces to get them nice and flush. All the pieces fit together tightly because of the angled edges which allowed for a very snug fit in the controller section.
Here's my friends business card. He's a really talented builder who does beautiful carpentry work. If you are in Dane County, Wisconsin or surrounding areas and need a professional for the job, Clayton is the guy to call.
Arcade System Construction Progress - Phase One
Above is the partially finished cabinet after phase one of the construction process. So far the build has taken about 4 hours and we still have more work we need to do.
We left the front open because next time we will be adding in the monitor and internal parts. The back panel on the system comes off so we can easily access the inside and install the PC hardware into the Arcade System.
The wood panel in place on the controller section is a place holder as the controller is being redesigned to give the system a more interesting look. One other thing that changed is I scrapped the fold out keyboard idea from the system. It was an unneeded feature for the first system as I can just plug in a keyboard when I need one. As someone on the Arcade Controls forum mentioned to me “KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid”. This is always great advice, especially for a project like this.
The next time we build we will be adding the internal mounts for the computer hardware. I will add updated plans to the site once we determine were the mounts will be inside the system.
Tomorrow I will be ordering the remaining parts from Amazon.com and checking some reviews on Arcade Parts vendors to find the best place for my controller hardware. If you know of any good resources please feel free to share them with me in the comments.
Keep checking back for updates on the progress of the system. I will be posting updated designs to highlight changes, and additional details to the existing plans. I will also be posting my controller designs in the next few posts on the blog. Thanks for checking out my site!