Illuminating Corrugated Plastic

dariansdad

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I'm sure this has been discussed several times, but I can't seem to find anything. Me being a newbie to computer lighting and the forums I need some help. I have some stars made from Coro, 4 mil thick, and about 20" tall. I doubled up on the coro for sturdiness so they are 2 sheets thick.

Problem #1: I poked holes in the coro, pushed M6 pure white LEDs through. The star lights up nice and bright but the lights wash out the shape of the stars.

Problem #2: Say I split the 2 pieces apart with maybe spacers in between, and then put the lights on the back piece. Will that illuminate the star similar to using RGB? Is there a specific distance I'll need to space the 2 pieces?

I haven't gotten into (RGB) yet, and quite honostly, am intimidated by what I read on creating them. I would like to eventually, but I'm still building my show. I'm almost finished with pieces for 2012, but the stars are beginning to be my Achilles Heel.

Any help would always be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ron
 
G

GoofyGuy

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I would call or email over to HolidayCoro and ask for Dave, hes on here somewhere as well. If there is a solution for Coro hes the man to contact. As his business is HolidayCoro.com
 

fasteddy

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This is where black coro is better to use than white. I personnally use all my white coro for light diffussion.
Have you cut the coro into the shape of the star or is it just a square piece of coro with the star shape in it?
 

fasteddy

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Another thing is how far do you have the LEDs pushed through the coro, if they are not pushed through all the way then the light will be dispersed inside the core of the corex and give a much more washed out effect. If you push the LEDs all the way through making sure that the LED is not inside the coro then this will help also.

2 sheets will not help here as that if anything will help increase the light dispersion and make it appear more washed out. If you need a second sheet for structural reasons then use a black sheet and cut the shape of the star and place it over the top of the white sheet, this will give you your defined edges of the star
 

dariansdad

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The star is a cut out shape. I doubled up the coro so it's actually 2 stars back to back. The LEDs are all the way through both sheets. They protrude about 9/16" through the front. I'll set one outside tonight after dark and get a pic. I've only looked at it inside, so it may look different outside and from the distance it will be viewed.


Thanks,
Ron
 

JPB

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Ron,

I built my 6" star using one sheet with holes in it with the RGB pixels poked through and then a second sheet about 3 inches in front of that to disperse the light. It worked well and the star has a nice even glow.

Play around with the spacing to get the effect that you want and make sure you step right back and look at it at about the same distance that you would when mounted in it's final position. Also make sure you cut the front star with ribs in the coro vertically ( or horizontally ), I hade to redo my first attempt because they ended up on an angle and looked shocking, once I had them vertical so they were not so obvious.

Jon
 

dariansdad

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and then one from outside about as far away as they will be viewed
 

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Steve22537

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They look great from where I'm sitting, if your woried about the star being washed out have you tried dimming the LED's

Steve
 

dariansdad

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Thanks for the help and comments folks. I haven't tried the dimming yet. I just have them plugged in. That's the way I'll use them in 2012. In 2013, they will be incorperated into the channel mix and then I'll try dimming. I may just hook up a controller and try the dimming just to see if it helps for what I envisioned.
 
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