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YOU NEED DC-DC CONVERTERS! Google for step down modules. LM2596 based circuit is basically a dimmer for your led's. It can take up to 20 volts input & puts out what ever you turn the dial to! Cheers
I always love Jen's presentations and Norm's comments. The effect obtained by using multiple screens is Atmospheric Perspective, or Aerial Perspective. Produced in theater by using multiple scrims, painting and drawing by changing tone and saturation. It would be real nice to follow this up with a technical/how-to, and parts "introduction".
Jen, love the way you think and work. Many years ago I was building military dioramas. I came across a book by a man named Shepard Paine called “How to Build Dioramas”. This book changed my life and how I approach all of my miniature work. I highly recommend it.
That is so cool and inspiring! Thank you for showing all these different techniques. I instantly thought about how beautiful it would look to create that "sunlight filtering through foliage" -effect in a diorama.
I am just getting into lighting and designing lights. A basic video about how to start, and what to buy for lights and power sources would be helpful. It is really cool to see all of your different effects!
I love these episodes with Jen. I like the silk screen frame idea to create the illusion of depth of field. I've often wondered about doing some kind of environment layout (like a model railroad layout) where you have elements in multiple scales, separated by breaks in terrain that allow you to shift to the next smaller scale. In the rear of the layout would be the very smallest scale. But if each of those layers was separated by a diffuser pane, I think you would be able to sell the distance effect even more strongly, especially if you could calibrate the diffusion to some extent. I think an acrylic sheet with a frosted coating might do the trick, as long as there was absolutely no shine to the glass itself. And it would have to be pretty clean. You could even paint clouds on the glass, or ground-level atmospheric haze.
You can sand the screenprinting mesh (it's done to help with film adhesion) and it should help somewhat with reducing the glossy appearance... Another option is to use a very sheer black stocking material and then add varying amounts of white or light gray paint with an airbrush. You can create gradients from the bottom up as well... An all white or translucent material will project more light out to the viewer than the black, thus awarding less control...
A concept that I've seen used in night/underground scene's is to use black light to make stars and other items take on a ethereal glow. I have some black light LED strips to highlight some of my vintage blacklight posters without bathing a room in blacklight.
Fiber optics could a be incorporated into something like this. You can get spools of PMMA (plastic) optical fibers pretty cheap. You could even potentially use only a couple leds to light a whole scene just by piping the light where you need it. Then hide everything under the base.
I am lighting a 1/12 scale model boat, and generally using micro LED's, (0.8mm x 1.2mm), I made a custom power supply board from veroboard (with a 3.0V supply from a lithium cell), and am wiring to that, the switching is dome using DIP switch chips (which were perfectly sized for the instrument panel), the charging for the lithium cell is done via some 4.1V flexible solar panels mounted as per the real boats panels, the wires however for the LED's are tiny (0.1mm) and soldering them is a feat in itself.
The top down lighting is a good idea, but this example in the video works really really well with the bottom up lighting. The graveyard style, the slightly creepy feel, the uplighting works so well
As mentioned above, this video would have been so much more useful if you’d recommended some products. Or at least some categories of products that are easy for beginners to add to their models.
My da helped me with a school project an he used this old printer ribbon cable. I guess it helped cause all the lines were different colors an he connected the other side to a controller. Worked good.
Very cool. I do this sort of thing for a living for stopmo animation sets and do these types of explorations all the time. There are so many possibilities available for miniature lighting now with the latest fixtures and control systems on the market. As for layers, have you played with switchable smart glass/film at all?
Hello James W H-- I'm trying to find a way to make little scenes where in the center is a large screen with a photo on it-- the screen is illuminated but I can't find the right material to use (or the right lighting) to light the area behind the photo which is on a transparencey-- so the light is uniform. I ordered something super expensive from Edmund Optics but it wasn't specially good. I can only get the bulbs a bout one and 1/2 inch back behind the 'screen.' If I wind fairy lights around the periphery it sort of works. The screen will be 4 or 5" square. Any ideas about diffusers to help me? Thank you. Lynn W
Old-school miniature filmmaking used a material for doing the distance effect. A type of non-reflective mesh. Worth looking into some old Cinefex magazines
if you are running them from mains, get a old pc power supply and convert it to a bench power supply or you can buy the block that connects to the 24pin lead, Pc power supplies give 3.3v 5v and 12v so it provides all of them at once. and if you wanted you could run a entire room full of those from one PSU depending on the ampage each one is as it is not unusual to get 25a from the 5v rail and 40a from the 12v rail. along with 10-15a from the 3.3v rail etc.
Have you tried lightly airbrushing a pigment/pattern onto the silkscreen layer? Could maybe get mist/cloud effects with various amounts of light getting through, or maybe something like a nebula. How about UV LEDs and glow pigments?
Great! Is it possible to share list of the lighting tools you used? Especially the plugs you attached to the back of the house that all the lights plugged into. Also what wattage was the power? Cheers.
The problem I aways have is power. If you dont want to use batteries and plug into the mains, how do yo do it safely?? Id love to see a video on that, whether you'r lighting a diorama or the Falcon, Star Destroyer or Enterprise, how do you do it aok connected to a mains plug? (Or even better a USB plug)?
YOU NEED DC-DC CONVERTERS! Google for step down modules. LM2596 based circuit is basically a dimmer for your led's. It can take up to 20 volts input puts out what ever you turn the dial to
So you go usb plug -> dc-dc converter -> LED. You can also get current limited dc-dc converters, this ensures that (when set correctly ) even if you make a short,, nothing breaks . The led's will simply dim or turn off untill you fixed the short. That way you can never go wrong. Accidentally blowing up a usb wall plug is out of the question like this :D
use a old pc power supply if you are running them from mains, get a old pc power supply and convert it to a bench power supply or you can buy the block that connects to the 24pin lead, Pc power supplies give 3.3v 5v and 12v and ground so it provides all of them at once. and if you wanted you could run a entire room full of those from one PSU depending on the ampage each one is as it is not unusual to get 25a from the 5v rail and 40a from the 12v rail. along with 10-15a from the 3.3v rail etc, all with complete safety, as have many protections built into them, over current,over voltage, reverse voltage etc etc, and very tight tolerances. i run everything from one. led lighting, foam cutters, battery chargers, PC battery chargers, USB devices and devices you name it all from one PSU and all at the same time. using speaker ports and banana connections to run the different connections.
Was the house sending out a green searchlight or was that light bleed? There are so many things you could have done with the moon. A haunted scene needs a full moon.
That looks cool a guy in the netherlands bould a miniature of the spookslot it all works and has electronics he even build small stage lights to light up the display
Regarding having just one thing to plug in... on my guitar pedal board I have a single power supply brick that has multiple 9v DC outputs. Maybe something similar would work?
Wireless leds like Norm used in : ua-cam.com/video/QL7bwm_FqlA/v-deo.html Or StrangeParts who figure out how to DIY some: ua-cam.com/video/PsUsByrOveE/v-deo.html
Does anyone in the comments have any good resources on figuring out voltage/wattage/etc for diorama lighting? I'm comfortable with soldering (I learned the basics in college) but when it comes to safely connecting bulbs/diodes & a battery, I'm not entirely sure where to start.
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YOU NEED DC-DC CONVERTERS! Google for step down modules. LM2596 based circuit is basically a dimmer for your led's. It can take up to 20 volts input & puts out what ever you turn the dial to! Cheers
Love to see a supply list of all parts used to make the lighting effects. Another great video!
I always love Jen's presentations and Norm's comments. The effect obtained by using multiple screens is Atmospheric Perspective, or Aerial Perspective. Produced in theater by using multiple scrims, painting and drawing by changing tone and saturation. It would be real nice to follow this up with a technical/how-to, and parts "introduction".
Worked with Jen, years and years and years ago, back in Baltimore. Super talented and rad human!
stunning on several levels - electrical, color, texture, artwork, wow thank you for going through this in detail
love the atmospheric perspective effect with the mesh
Jen, love the way you think and work. Many years ago I was building military dioramas. I came across a book by a man named Shepard Paine called “How to Build Dioramas”. This book changed my life and how I approach all of my miniature work. I highly recommend it.
Jen's work is so awesome! Amazing what she comes up with...
She seemed a bit nervous in this video. We need more videos with Jen.
That is so cool and inspiring! Thank you for showing all these different techniques. I instantly thought about how beautiful it would look to create that "sunlight filtering through foliage" -effect in a diorama.
I am just getting into lighting and designing lights. A basic video about how to start, and what to buy for lights and power sources would be helpful. It is really cool to see all of your different effects!
I love these episodes with Jen. I like the silk screen frame idea to create the illusion of depth of field. I've often wondered about doing some kind of environment layout (like a model railroad layout) where you have elements in multiple scales, separated by breaks in terrain that allow you to shift to the next smaller scale. In the rear of the layout would be the very smallest scale. But if each of those layers was separated by a diffuser pane, I think you would be able to sell the distance effect even more strongly, especially if you could calibrate the diffusion to some extent. I think an acrylic sheet with a frosted coating might do the trick, as long as there was absolutely no shine to the glass itself. And it would have to be pretty clean. You could even paint clouds on the glass, or ground-level atmospheric haze.
You can sand the screenprinting mesh (it's done to help with film adhesion) and it should help somewhat with reducing the glossy appearance...
Another option is to use a very sheer black stocking material and then add varying amounts of white or light gray paint with an airbrush. You can create gradients from the bottom up as well...
An all white or translucent material will project more light out to the viewer than the black, thus awarding less control...
Jen, Bringer of Light. The Zombie Hand! 100%
A concept that I've seen used in night/underground scene's is to use black light to make stars and other items take on a ethereal glow. I have some black light LED strips to highlight some of my vintage blacklight posters without bathing a room in blacklight.
Aaaand, you just gave me another great idea😄 thanks Norm & Jen!
What a neat project Jen!
Very nice,Jen!
Fiber optics could a be incorporated into something like this. You can get spools of PMMA (plastic) optical fibers pretty cheap. You could even potentially use only a couple leds to light a whole scene just by piping the light where you need it. Then hide everything under the base.
OMG I'm so impressed with this whole project. I personally don't work with things like this because I build with Legos but I am deeply impressed.
You can add lights to Legos builds too. Give it a try!
Objects getting grayer and reduced in contrast as they get farther away is called "Atmospheric Perspective"
I am lighting a 1/12 scale model boat, and generally using micro LED's, (0.8mm x 1.2mm), I made a custom power supply board from veroboard (with a 3.0V supply from a lithium cell), and am wiring to that, the switching is dome using DIP switch chips (which were perfectly sized for the instrument panel), the charging for the lithium cell is done via some 4.1V flexible solar panels mounted as per the real boats panels, the wires however for the LED's are tiny (0.1mm) and soldering them is a feat in itself.
All the stuff you guys make is so cool
Depth of Field. Please can we have more of your makings…or actual making? Thank you. Enjoying this whole channel ✨🌈✨
The top down lighting is a good idea, but this example in the video works really really well with the bottom up lighting.
The graveyard style, the slightly creepy feel, the uplighting works so well
Wonderful Discussion on lighting within dioramas.
As mentioned above, this video would have been so much more useful if you’d recommended some products. Or at least some categories of products that are easy for beginners to add to their models.
Have you seen those tiny pin head sized led's in greeting cards today... amazing.
This is exactly what I was looking for!!!
Good stuff! 💡 thanks, idea channel!
Fantastic content for artist! Thank you!
My da helped me with a school project an he used this old printer ribbon cable. I guess it helped cause all the lines were different colors an he connected the other side to a controller. Worked good.
Very cool. I do this sort of thing for a living for stopmo animation sets and do these types of explorations all the time. There are so many possibilities available for miniature lighting now with the latest fixtures and control systems on the market. As for layers, have you played with switchable smart glass/film at all?
Hello James W H-- I'm trying to find a way to make little scenes where in the center is a large screen with a photo on it-- the screen is illuminated but I can't find the right material to use (or the right lighting) to light the area behind the photo which is on a transparencey-- so the light is uniform. I ordered something super expensive from Edmund Optics but it wasn't specially good. I can only get the bulbs a bout one and 1/2 inch back behind the 'screen.' If I wind fairy lights around the periphery it sort of works. The screen will be 4 or 5" square. Any ideas about diffusers to help me? Thank you. Lynn W
Old-school miniature filmmaking used a material for doing the distance effect. A type of non-reflective mesh. Worth looking into some old Cinefex magazines
Love it! well done
if you are running them from mains, get a old pc power supply and convert it to a bench power supply or you can buy the block that connects to the 24pin lead, Pc power supplies give 3.3v 5v and 12v so it provides all of them at once. and if you wanted you could run a entire room full of those from one PSU depending on the ampage each one is as it is not unusual to get 25a from the 5v rail and 40a from the 12v rail. along with 10-15a from the 3.3v rail etc.
This is super awesome. Would love to see you guys make a kit
Have you tried lightly airbrushing a pigment/pattern onto the silkscreen layer? Could maybe get mist/cloud effects with various amounts of light getting through, or maybe something like a nebula.
How about UV LEDs and glow pigments?
Great video, but it would be great to show how the lighting was done. From wiring to how to place the lights
Great! Is it possible to share list of the lighting tools you used? Especially the plugs you attached to the back of the house that all the lights plugged into. Also what wattage was the power? Cheers.
Hey, here’s an idea: turn that thing around so we can see how it’s done! 👎
The problem I aways have is power. If you dont want to use batteries and plug into the mains, how do yo do it safely?? Id love to see a video on that, whether you'r lighting a diorama or the Falcon, Star Destroyer or Enterprise, how do you do it aok connected to a mains plug? (Or even better a USB plug)?
YOU NEED DC-DC CONVERTERS! Google for step down modules. LM2596 based circuit is basically a dimmer for your led's. It can take up to 20 volts input puts out what ever you turn the dial to
So you go usb plug -> dc-dc converter -> LED. You can also get current limited dc-dc converters, this ensures that (when set correctly ) even if you make a short,, nothing breaks . The led's will simply dim or turn off untill you fixed the short. That way you can never go wrong. Accidentally blowing up a usb wall plug is out of the question like this :D
use a old pc power supply if you are running them from mains, get a old pc power supply and convert it to a bench power supply or you can buy the block that connects to the 24pin lead, Pc power supplies give 3.3v 5v and 12v and ground so it provides all of them at once. and if you wanted you could run a entire room full of those from one PSU depending on the ampage each one is as it is not unusual to get 25a from the 5v rail and 40a from the 12v rail. along with 10-15a from the 3.3v rail etc, all with complete safety, as have many protections built into them, over current,over voltage, reverse voltage etc etc, and very tight tolerances. i run everything from one. led lighting, foam cutters, battery chargers, PC battery chargers, USB devices and devices you name it all from one PSU and all at the same time. using speaker ports and banana connections to run the different connections.
Very informative, but to be truly useful, it would helpful to provide lists or actual links to the products described.
Was the house sending out a green searchlight or was that light bleed?
There are so many things you could have done with the moon. A haunted scene needs a full moon.
where did you get these lights? there are no links in the description
That looks cool a guy in the netherlands bould a miniature of the spookslot it all works and has electronics he even build small stage lights to light up the display
Regarding having just one thing to plug in... on my guitar pedal board I have a single power supply brick that has multiple 9v DC outputs. Maybe something similar would work?
Awesome
How about clear coating a piece of acrylic for a frosted effect like Adam used in the lantern build?
Try drafting film to get multi-layer depth
Wireless leds like Norm used in : ua-cam.com/video/QL7bwm_FqlA/v-deo.html Or StrangeParts who figure out how to DIY some: ua-cam.com/video/PsUsByrOveE/v-deo.html
Does anyone in the comments have any good resources on figuring out voltage/wattage/etc for diorama lighting? I'm comfortable with soldering (I learned the basics in college) but when it comes to safely connecting bulbs/diodes & a battery, I'm not entirely sure where to start.
Old guys have been lighting up train displays for decades.
Hi Jen :D
Nice, but I believe model railroaders have been doing this for decades?
I watched this entire video which was awesome and there is no part list. Sigh
Blender is a good free tool you can use
I thought today's vid was the hamster powered e-bike! So bummed. 🐹🐹🐹
Idk how to tell her but she needs to look into wled
Jen is light...
Watch Dave Fleischer's "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's..." if you want to lean how to cheat depth. :)
Try white Pantyhose. Probably get a more foggy effect.
💡
Arduino