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Magical Dimensions Inner circle 5001 Posts |
Hello,
I am looking for a light that I am having a hard time finding. I might have to make one, but I rather buy it. Maybe you guys will know where I can get this type of light. It will be used for theatrical purposes. Let’s imagine that you have a spectator on stage doing a visualization routine. You ask her to imagine that she sees a tabled lamp on a small stand and on the count of three she is to turn it on using her mind. When you count to three, a beam of light suddenly shines upward from the floor/rug. I want to use the light just for a nice visual effect for the audience to see and to feel as if they are being pulled into the routine in a small way. So I am looking for a thin/flat light that I can turn on either remotely or by stepping on or pushing a switching device. If you have any ideas or sources I am all ears. Best Ray |
Emory Kimbrough New user Tuscaloosa, AL 94 Posts |
I'm not promising that the following is either the best solution or a complete solution, but at least it's a start: Head to American Science and Surplus - sciplus.com - and type in "COB LED" into their search. (That's for Chip-On-Board LED.) The search will return two pages of flashlights, desk lamps, and lanterns that you don't want, but mixed in with those will also be several COB LED options that just give you the raw component - one or more of these extremely bright LEDs by themselves or on small circuit boards, not built into something. That solves your flatness problem. This would definitely be a DIY project, as you would need to hook it up to a power supply - a lot of these run at 32 volts DC. Some will also need a heat sink.
A significant issue that you will have is that, whether you buy something or make something, "flat" and "beam" tend not to go together. A flat source usually means a flood, not a spot. The COB LEDs are quite small, so you might be able to scrounge some small lens or lenses to give you more of a beam. (Cell phone camera lens??? Laser-pointer lens???) This same search at sciplus.com will also return the 700-lumen "IZoom LED Floodlight" and the "IZoom 1000-lumen Floodlight." Those both have flat shapes - so maybe there's your solution, right out of the box. But they are floods, not beams - would that work for you? (These two products also give you a ballpark figure for how bright a light you could get by making your own COB-based light, as the same type of LEDs are in those IZoom floods. I'm thinking this effect would be best theatrically if it's quite subtle - just enough to ensure the audience detects it, not some bright blast of light - so I'm optimistic you won't need some 1,000-watt monster light here.) Different approach - Could you generate a thin column of mist / fog / smoke / dust where the imaginary lamp will be? Or hang a nearly transparent gossamer-like gauze cloth? This could be illuminated by all sorts of easily-found spotlights or focusing flashlights, aimed in from a distance at almost any convenient angle. A column of mist would also be useful even if you do find or make a decent floor-based light, for two reasons (1) It would greatly enhance the effect of the light, so you could use a much weaker light (and thus a smaller-sized hide-under-the-carpet one) and still get the desired result. (2) It might solve the flood problem - The light would still flood everywhere, but the audience would only SEE the light where it hit the fog. Could you do something just with a sheet of glass? Maybe something like the Pepper's Ghost Illusion, or a derivative thereof? Maybe post this in the F/X Forum instead of here? This might be one of those projects where you have to fail a few times and burn up some money before you finally get something that works. Please report back if you find a good solution. |
Magical Dimensions Inner circle 5001 Posts |
Emory Kimbrough,
Thanks for he information. I will check out the website and see if I can find something that I can use. As far as what you wrote in your different approach paragraph, it has me thinking back to my magic days. Thanks for reminding me. Ray |
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