light diffusing sheets?

[ChadTower]

My son's birthday is coming up and I'd like to get him an old playfield to put on his wall.  It would be pretty cool to backlight it, which would require a frame... no problem.  Lighting could be done a number of ways but I figure the easiest is probably rope light - low depth, easy to string around where you want it, ready for AC.  To evenly light the inserts I imagine rope light would have to be diffused somehow.  Anyone have any suggestions on a good sheet material to use between the light and the playfield? 

[shardian]

What is stopping you from using the original wedge lights, and just bypassing the driver board and running direct wall wart power?

[ChadTower]

At the moment, I'm not sure yet the whole GI string is going to be intact on the playfield I get.  I haven't seen it yet.  Plus I don't want to have 5 dead bulbs on the thing a couple months after we put it up.

I hadn't thought of using a wall wart, though.  Being AC ready was one of my issues.

[Ginsu Victim]

I'm still interested in having the light diffusing material question answered.
I have LEDs for coin door lights and would like the light to diffuse. Right now, it's just putting a spot light in the middle of the reject button.

[shardian]

At the moment, I'm not sure yet the whole GI string is going to be intact on the playfield I get.  I haven't seen it yet.  Plus I don't want to have 5 dead bulbs on the thing a couple months after we put it up.

I hadn't thought of using a wall wart, though.  Being AC ready was one of my issues.

Well, you could replace all of the bulbs at a whopping cost of...$10.

I've also heard of people using christmas lights.

[ChadTower]

Well, you could replace all of the bulbs at a whopping cost of...$10.

Oh, I would do that automatically, but new bulbs aren't much more reliable, and 30 year old sockets even less so.

I've also heard of people using christmas lights.

We're better at this than those people.   

[ChadTower]

Hrm.  This may work and the price is right. 

[RoninEditor]

Chad... I kinda skimmed the topic but this is an old film school trick I used to diffuse harsh lights.  Instead of buying waaaaay too expensive diffusion material, you can get the EXACT same effect using wax paper, the kind you would cook with.  Crumple it up then reopen it if you want it even more diffused. 

It works for a variety of reasons, but the most important is that it is heat-resistant. 

[Ginsu Victim]

Thanks Ronin. I knew it was easier than that! (Film school 101!)

[Neverending Project]

Instead of diffusing, what about putting a couple of fluorescent bulbs behind the playfield? I would think this would be cheaper than rope-light and probably give off more light anyway. Or maybe some cold cathode tubes (although these are DC, aren't they)? Or even one of the fancy-schmancy NovaMatrix Marquee kits from GGG?

[RoninEditor]

Thanks Ronin. I knew it was easier than that! (Film school 101!)

LOL... it was more of a thing of us being totally poor, but it honestly works better than I expected.  I used it a couple months ago while in a bind on a shoot, had a PA run to the supermarket for a bunch of it (with clothespins), haha.

[Ginsu Victim]

If you've ever read Robert Rodriguez's book, "Rebel Without a Crew," you know how easy you can do certain things that have expensive alternatives.

[RoninEditor]

Definitely!!  I have to check that out, thanks for the heads up.

Working where I do, it floors me how much money is wasted on shoots for :30 or :60 commercials or promos.  I did this one music video for a certain female singer and her "make-up person" (who sat around all day because we already had a staff) was $15,000 a DAY, but I didn't produce it so I couldn't complain about the waste of money.  Obviously it was a friend collecting a check on the label's budget but I was like, um... I've had to do entire videos for $15K, lol. 

Rodriguez is great, he pisses off the unions because he does everything himself.  The unions want him to hire a DP, hire an editor, etc.  Why should he?  The less crew you have, the less waste and bs'ing you have.

[Ginsu Victim]

^Sorry for taking this off topic....
Ronin, if you haven't seen the documentary "Full Tilt Boogie", get it ASAP. It's the second disc with "From Dusk Till Dawn," but was also released individually. There's a LOT of fighting with the unions on that.

[ChadTower]

Instead of diffusing, what about putting a couple of fluorescent bulbs behind the playfield?

That's still in the options list.  I'd like to try and keep the frame depth less than the width of a fluorescent fixture if I can.  I'd like to use something that also isn't fragile and is very unlikely to fail.  One drawback to rope light, though, may be heat.

I contacted an industrial manufaturer of light diffusing plastic sheets.  The guy told me that they don't sell in small quantities, but if I go to any art supply store I can find Drafting Film and it will do the same job.  I'll take a look at wax paper, as RoninEditor suggests, but that may be hard to find in a continuous sheets the size of a playfield.

[Ginsu Victim]

Rope lights, at least mine, really don't put off much heat.

[Cakemeister]

Use a string of Christmas tree lights, and a hot glue gun. Easy, cheap, no diffusion required.

[IA1NY]

Neverending: You still need to diffuse the fluorescents unless you are interested in bars of light across your field.

Chad: Your drafting film will work well for short term, but will sag over time.  We use 3/16" sign white polycarbonate for all of our lightboxes.  Since you don't have to worry about fire codes, you can use acrylic too.  You'll have to test the depth to see how far back to put your lights to avoid hotspots.  The ropelight is a good choice.  Little heat, and simple to attach.  We're using some very expensive high-intensity white LEDs on boxes these days.  They pump out the light with no heat, but about $27 per foot.  We've also used neon or some of the neon substitutes, but like I said cha-ching!

Call a local plastic supplier and they can help you out.  When in doubt, have them send samples.  You might also be able to get some from a local sign company if your plastics suppliers don't sell in small quantities.

[Neverending Project]

Good point about still needing to diffuse. But Depot also sells fluorescent light covers for drop ceilings, which will probably make a fine diffuser. I have also seen them at Tap Plastics.