RGB LED Strip Ideas

[yotsuya]

Yeah. Calling people puds doesn't seem jerky at all.

Yeah. Calling people puds doesn't seem jerky at all.

lol, pud - still funny. I didn't call anyone a pud. If you self-identify, that's on you. 

And besides..... worst case is you're saying I'm a jerk, for calling you a pud, for you being a jerk. 

ENUFF!!!!1!

[leapinlew]

Yeah. Calling people puds doesn't seem jerky at all.

Yeah. Calling people puds doesn't seem jerky at all.

lol, pud - still funny. I didn't call anyone a pud. If you self-identify, that's on you. 

And besides..... worst case is you're saying I'm a jerk, for calling you a pud, for you being a jerk. 

ENUFF!!!!1!

Don't be jelly. You can be a pud too. There's enough pud to go around. 

[Hoopz]

 

This place never gets old.

[opt2not]

Not even sure where to begin with the responses in this thread... forum was way more helpful a few years back when I used it before, less 'catty'... 

This forum has always been catty...
It goes with the territory of highly passionate people with strong personalities and opinions.
The same people that gave helpful advice back a few years ago are the same people that are here giving it now.

Was a simple question, not sure why all the snide comments. As for Christmas lights and being tacky etc... when I grew up in the late '70s and '80s, arcades were full of flashing lights and music... so I am recreating my childhood experience.

Hmm,  where I grew up, arcades had their flashing lights outside of the arcade, not inside flashing the lighting on every screen. The most we got were black-lights installed inside. There were no strobes, no neon, or trim lighting inside where the machines were...a majority of arcades were dark, smokey and noisey from all the clashing sounds of cabinets running.   Also keep in mind, these were the days were all lights were either incandescent bulbs, or neon.  Both of which produced a lot of heat, while inside arcades were already hot and stuffy from the machines.

But, that doesn't mean you can't make it look good. If done properly, anything could be made to go with the overall theme and look of your projects.

Use your lighting tastefully, and sparingly.  If you're going for recreating your childhood experience, then keep in mind that arcade cabinets did not have many lights installed on the actual machines. Of course every machine had marquee and coin door button lighting, very few had backlights on monitor bezels artwork (Universal cabinets like Lady Bug, Magical Spot), and even fewer had lit buttons (Atari cones and Williams start buttons are the ones that come to mind).

If I were you, I'd use those LED strips for some kind of additional wall sign, or foliage for your the room you're putting your cabinet into.
Or perhaps for a topper piece. Underlighting/Backwall lighting always looked so tacky, like when you see it on a car. It holds no real purpose other than to try to look cool.

I'll go check that Facebook group out... probably more helpful and friendly.

Honestly, those FB groups are trash.  You think we're catty? FB is worse and a majority of them don't know what the heck they're talking about.

[wp34]

 

This place never gets old.

Welcome back Pud.   

[leapinlew]

Welcome back Pud.   

STILL funny!

[Hoopz]

 

This place never gets old.

Welcome back Pud.   

Good to be back.  Quick question.  Four player cab so I want to angle the joys for players 3 and 4 right?  More elbow room!

[wp34]

 

This place never gets old.

Welcome back Pud.   

Good to be back.  Quick question.  Four player cab so I want to angle the joys for players 3 and 4 right?  More elbow room!

Actually you want to angle all 4.  How are you going to play 4-player Smash Q*Bert if you don't?

[leapinlew]

Lets be real - if we had access to inexpensive and readily available LED's in the 80's, we would've put them on everything. The 80's were all about flash and pizzazz. Proof is in the arcades of today - extra lights, accessories and everything is over the top. You may have been to arcades without a lot of sizzle back in the day, but I definitely went to a few arcades that had lots of extra lights, sounds, etc.

The 90's were all about being cool and look like you're not trying (wrinkly clothes, unwashed, etc.) Terrible decade.

[Gilrock]

I'm all for some cool leds as long as the quality of the control doesn't suffer.  My led buttons on my Mame panel just don't feel as good as the old school leaf buttons I've used elsewhere.  Maybe those Electric ICE buttons with true leaf switches would be good but they were out of stock forever when I was building so I don't know how they perform.

[Howard_Casto]

For a modern feel the ice buttons are pretty good.  They feel a bit cheaper than the happ stuff, but they don't make 'em like they used to and that's nobodies fault.  The thing is, light design is tricky.....  anybody can add lights to a cab, but only a few can add them and have it look tasteful.  I don't think it's something you should be adding if you are a beginner. 

[leapinlew]

For a modern feel the ice buttons are pretty good.  They feel a bit cheaper than the happ stuff, but they don't make 'em like they used to and that's nobodies fault.

True.

These buttons are awful.

So bad.

My personal preference is a concave button, so I don't like to compromise on anything else. I don't light my playing buttons, but it's no big deal if someone does. It just doesn't have the wow factor it did when I first saw it.

[Howard_Casto]

Well the problem there is Randy created a monster.  His stuff is quality product, but since his lit buttons became fashionable, Chinese companies pulled any lighted button they ever produced to the forefront.  I don't believe those were even for arcade machines originally, but they are marketed that way because they are cheap to make. 

[leapinlew]

Here's another couple pics of the back lighting on my cabinets:





I lifted PBJ's idea and put a couple of those projection globe things that rotate and are sold around Christmas time onto the back of the arcade. It makes a pretty cool effect. These scream "I'm trying to be cool" because.... well, I want it to be cool looking.