How to diffuse led lights to look solid?

[jadebmr]

I am working on an enchanted rose for my daughters birthday and wanted to know if there is a better way to make the circle of LED lights look more like a solid light? Right now they are attached at the bottom through holes I drilled. I tried a frosted plastic over it and it is better but still not what I really want.

The goal it to edge light the glass bell.

Any tips? I am open to different lights too.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Gixxerfool]

This is a little tough. You can try to use acrylic that is frosted/colored. I'm going through this right now myself. I've found adjusting the brightness to less than full has helped dramatically. Some have used 3D printed rings made from PLA I believe. I've seen wax paper used and even tracing paper.

 

[jadebmr]

Is lighting from the bottom still the best idea? Or would be lighting from the side or something better?

 

[Circuit Breaker]

Have you looked at El wire or EL tape?

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[Zinger]

Distance is your friend. The further the LEDs are from the diffuser, the better. For this I might try hiding the LEDs inside the base plate of the jar and behind a frosted plexiglass ring mounted flush to the surface of the base. Putting the LEDs inside the base will give you room to get good diffusion.

Then the bell jar will sit on the plexiglass ring. That should work.

 

[Zinger]

since this doesn't have to be too bright electroluminescent wire would also work. It would give you a soft even glow. It should be easy tofind something close to the right color.

 

[propmaster2000]

Some time ago, I was lucky enough to get a job lighting a Float for Disneyland CA. Parade of Lights
"Paint the Night".
They used a ton of LED tube style LED lights that looked like neon. Very bright and many colors.

Spoiler

Doing a search for LED/ NEON (neon style LED) might bring up what you seek.

.

 

[Darth Lars]

Yes, more distance. Light boxes are often built with the LEDs 90° to the diffuser inside an open cavity painted white inside.

 

[dlambert]

You should try do put the LEDs sideways with just a small opening for the light. Like small flashlights. The put the diffuser infront. It will probably be a darker​ glow, but I believe the 'dots' of light will be less evident.

 

[jadebmr]

The goal is to have the glass bell glow bright pink like in the animated movie. I see the EL wire stuff and that may work.



What about cutting the whole channel where the lights are recessed out and replacing with plexiglass? Then have the lights be under the center of the base? I wonder if that would work better. I think the fact the LED are in the holes that are visible makes the effect worse.

I just want it REALLY BRIGHT.

 

[Zinger]

To get really bright, you'll need LEDs. EL just isn't that bright. For indoor use it might be ok. It's cheap and easy to work with. Give it a try

 

[jadebmr]

This is the effect I am going for. I know it is not possible to match it but just to make it look simmilar.

 

[Zinger]

With EL you could just lay it on the existing channel and cover with a thin frosted ring.

 

[Zombie Killer]

Go to your local recycling place (dump) and get a broken lcd monitor. Take the screen apart and there are some good lenticular screens and other diffusing layers in them. Try a few different layers. I've used them before with good results when it comes to diffusing points of light. I just realized wht your trying to do. For the effect you want its going to be hard to do. For it to retain enough light on the glass your not going to be able to see through it.

 

[Cappy]

Take a look at "side glow" fiber optics at the fiber optic store. Here's the link
http://thefiberopticstore.com/product-category/side-glow-2/

It glows the color of led you use.

 

[jadebmr]

For the effect you want its going to be hard to do. For it to retain enough light on the glass your not going to be able to see through it.

Thats is my worry too. I don't know if seeing the dots is better than low light. My other idea is for the whole base to be a light similar to a light table. Put a bright as hell light inside the base and use clear plexiglass for the whole circle the rose floats over not just the channel the bell sits in.

 

[Zombie Killer]

Getting rid of the dots isn't that hard. Use the lcd screen stuff I mentioned and move the leds away from it a little. Getting the light to make the glass glow is the problem. For the light to "stay" on the glass one side has to have a rough surface to pop up on. If you ever noticed those halo lights on cars they take a piece of clear rod and scribe lines on the rear side of the tube and the light reflects off those cuts. Otherwise the light just goes from one end of the rod to the other. I just don't see anyway of making it work AND be able to see through. You can have one but not both.

 

[jadebmr]

Getting rid of the dots isn't that hard. Use the lcd screen stuff I mentioned and move the leds away from it a little. Getting the light to make the glass glow is the problem. For the light to "stay" on the glass one side has to have a rough surface to pop up on. If you ever noticed those halo lights on cars they take a piece of clear rod and scribe lines on the rear side of the tube and the light reflects off those cuts. Otherwise the light just goes from one end of the rod to the other. I just don't see anyway of making it work AND be able to see through. You can have one but not both.

So you are saying you would need to frost the inside of the entire bell to make that effect, but then of course you can't see through it. I think I get you. I just need to decide what I want I guess.

Thanks for the all the help so far everyone.

 

[Zombie Killer]

If it were me and I know it would be hard to control the spray, but maybe spray the top dome of the glass and the bottom edge, leaving the center mostly clear yet it would glow at the base and top. That maybe a good compromise . If you can find the frosting stuff in a can that can be used in an airbrush it would be relatively easy. Using a spray bomb can from something like walmart would be tough to control. Its the only type ive seen though. Not sure if its available for a spray gun.

 

[Ein]

LEDs are not a bad application for this EL wire / EL tape works and does not create hot spots, but as has been pointed out, it's not as bright as you might be after. The more 'diffuse' the light source, the less pronounced the on-edge lighting on the glass will be.

Spraying the frosting around the base of the dome is a good compromise, but you can also layer a few discs of acrylic that you've sanded with something like 220-grit to really spread the light out and eliminate the individual LED effect.