# HOWTO: safe LED lighting for haunted houses



## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*lighting techniques with LEDs*

Now, for the the lighting techniques: this part is more subjective and everyone's opinion may vary --- discussion is welcomed

I want to start off by asking the rhetorical question: "What good is your $5000 animatronic if no one can see it?" Many people spent tens of thousands of dollars on building their set, awesome animatronics, but pay little attention to the lighting. I dare to say that lighting can make or break your scene. It brings out what you want your visitors to see and hides what you don't. It's great for misdirection, mood setting, and showing off all the hard work you went through to put your haunt together! I've been through several haunted houses on tours where we go back during the lights-on saying "I wish I had seen that in the dark, I didn't even know it was there!" On the contrary, you also don't want to walk in to a haunt where you CAN see everything, then there's no mystery --- this is why LEDs are perfect, they're not as bright as traditional lights, and can highlight JUST enough of what you need, nothing more and nothing less.

LEDs are also great because they come in so many different colors and tend to give more of a pure color than your traditional par cans with gels over them. Because LEDs are directional by nature, you can use it as a spotlight for many of your scenes.


A single LED enclosed in a tube can pinch off the light spread making a solid spot, this is great for highlighting props or casting creepy shadows
Several LEDs with a wider dispersion angle can give a nice soft flooding effect to a scene, you can get a nice glow in a corner of a room
There are many high powered LEDs on the market now (1Watt or even 3Watt), just a single one of these can flood an entire scene with color.

For completeness, I'll list a few examples of where to use certain colors (some may be quite obvious):
Reds: dungeons, hellish areas, any scene with fire, blood, or guts
Greens: alien scenes, labs, jungles, graveyards, creates a creepy mood
Blues: cold mood, freezer, water scenes, graveyards, futuristic scenes
Amber: this color makes anything look old (like in old color faded pictures), great for attics, barns, warehouse, also use with fire scenes
White (cold): almost the same color as fluorescent tubes, use in offices scenes, or to highlight props that need to show full color
White (warm): similar in color as a traditional light bulb, use it to make your scenes more natural looking, also use to highlight props that need to show full color

Remember if you're highlighting with any of the colors other than white, you'll most likely wash out the colors you used to paint your scene. Often times your scene detail make look awesome when you have normal lighting on it, but if you hit it with a red light, everything in that scene will be some shade of red.

I suggest to detail your set in actual haunt lighting --- this way you'll know what the final product actually looks like (or at least switch between your normal light and haunt light during the detailing process).

Alright, I know this was a pretty long post and really thank anyone who took the time to read this. If I had left anything out, let me know and I'll try to offer my advice as best as possible. Thanks!


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## thathalloweenguy (Jun 21, 2010)

Thank you for illuminating a subject I had only rudimentary knowledge of. I appreciate the help.


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## kittyvibe (Oct 27, 2008)

yes most interesting! Im such a bad girl I was hoping to see how to actually hook up some LEDs to a battery, lol.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Thank you on an excellent primer for LED lighting.

I have a question  Made a giant Demon Horse ground breaker for the yard. Using a ring of stones around it I hope to create the illusion of the horse erupting from a Hell Hole in the ground. Want to complete the look with LED lighting. Because it will be outdoors for at least two solid weeks, the lighting must be outdoor rated. So, was thinking of surrounding the horse at ground level with red and yellow LED rope lighting that pulses slowly on and off. Is there an adapter that I could buy that would allow me to do that? Worse case I was going to create the show using DMX. Just FYI: in addition to the rope lights, for Halloween night, there will be a strobe light and fog. 

Also, if you have products that would do this as well, what would you recommend?

Here's the Hell Horse for reference _(it's 7 1/2' tall):_


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*LED recommendations*



Terra said:


> Thank you on an excellent primer for LED lighting.
> 
> I have a question  Made a giant Demon Horse ground breaker for the yard. Using a ring of stones around it I hope to create the illusion of the horse erupting from a Hell Hole in the ground. Want to complete the look with LED lighting. Because it will be outdoors for at least two solid weeks, the lighting must be outdoor rated. So, was thinking of surrounding the horse at ground level with red and yellow LED rope lighting that pulses slowly on and off. Is there an adapter that I could buy that would allow me to do that? Worse case I was going to create the show using DMX. Just FYI: in addition to the rope lights, for Halloween night, there will be a strobe light and fog.
> 
> ...


Hi Terra, that's a beautiful prop you've made! I haven't looked in the market for rope lights but I think by nature, they are outdoor approved, you just may need to find the right colors.

As for our own products, everything we have is water resistant so you can use it outdoors. If you're looking for DMX control, we have the perfect light for you, the Precision DMX. It's RGB fully controllable via DMX, compact enough to fit in your palm, AND should be bright enough to light up the horse.

http://www.darklightsystem.com/products/Precision-DMX:-RGB-Theatrical-Light.html






Please note this light is on pre-order and will be available in July.

--- only thing that I think you should pay attention to is the fact that the horse is black. Pointing any light directly at it may not light it up well... you probably also want to have back lighting so the horse becomes a silhouette with glowing body parts. The fog will definitely help spread out the light as well.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

thrilltainment said:


> Hi Terra, that's a beautiful prop you've made! I haven't looked in the market for rope lights but I think by nature, they are outdoor approved, you just may need to find the right colors.
> 
> As for our own products, everything we have is water resistant so you can use it outdoors. If you're looking for DMX control, we have the perfect light for you, the Precision DMX. It's RGB fully controllable via DMX, compact enough to fit in your palm, AND should be bright enough to light up the horse.
> 
> ...


Love the idea of back-lighting it to help show it off _(scribbling a note)._ With the rope lights, is there an adapter that I could buy that I attach to them to allow very slow dimming and brightening _(to give a pulse effect)? _


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

Terra said:


> Love the idea of back-lighting it to help show it off _(scribbling a note)._ With the rope lights, is there an adapter that I could buy that I attach to them to allow very slow dimming and brightening _(to give a pulse effect)? _


there may be an adapter depending on the rope light:

if the rope light is using traditional incandescent bulbs, you can use a DMX controlled dimmer: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=dmx%20dimmer&rh=n%3A11091801%2Ck%3Admx%20dimmer&page=1, you'll also need a programmable DMX controller that sends the fading signals.

if the rope light is LED based and runs off of 12V, our company carries a new product this year that can dim/flash/strobe/chase/flicker a bunch of LEDs with OR without DMX (this is also on pre-order and will ship before July):
http://www.darklightsystem.com/products/DarkBox-DMX%3A-DMX512-Receiver-and-LED-Driver.html









with our DarkBox DMX, you can use DMX to fully control up to 6 channels of LEDs, or if you just want simple control we have a bunch of built-in functions that run without DMX... one of which is the pulsing you're looking for. I noticed in another post that you made really cool flickering candles, our controller can also output 6 unique channels of candle flicker at various speeds and brightnesses ---- since you can hook up multiple lights to each channel, you can actually hook up to 120 of our lights to a single control box.

cheers,
Quan


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

thrilltainment said:


> there may be an adapter depending on the rope light:
> 
> if the rope light is using traditional incandescent bulbs, you can use a DMX controlled dimmer: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=dmx%20dimmer&rh=n%3A11091801%2Ck%3Admx%20dimmer&page=1, you'll also need a programmable DMX controller that sends the fading signals.
> 
> ...


That DarkBox looks nifty. It's steep but looks like it can give a lot a versatality. Thanks so much for the info.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

Terra said:


> That DarkBox looks nifty. It's steep but looks like it can give a lot a versatality. Thanks so much for the info.


no problem at all.

cost wise, yes it may seem a bit pricey for some. However, this equipment is comparable to, if not has more feature than many of the other professional lighting controllers out on the market. A few other companies such as Ethereal FX and Gilderfluke make controllers with similar capabilities and they are $300-$1000 but they do not have the assortment of built-in programs so you still need a DMX controller, where as our product will allow you to run in stand-alone or DMX mode.


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## SavageEye (Aug 30, 2010)

Do you have any pictures of how far the light throws and brightness at different distances? Particularly for outdoor settings, Ex. wash lighting on the side of a house, lighting up windows (from a distance), etc.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

SavageEye said:


> Do you have any pictures of how far the light throws and brightness at different distances? Particularly for outdoor settings, Ex. wash lighting on the side of a house, lighting up windows (from a distance), etc.


that is still something we're working on. we have a basic comparison chart between some of our different lights on here: http://www.darklightsystem.com/pages/Reference-Images.html

In terms of outdoor throw, I recommend our Precision Z and Precision DMX lights. These are high powered lights designed for long distances and places with ambient lighting.

The X and Y models are usually used indoors in pitch black areas for highlighting props and scenes.


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## joepolicy (Sep 19, 2008)

Terra said:


> Love the idea of back-lighting it to help show it off _(scribbling a note)._ With the rope lights, is there an adapter that I could buy that I attach to them to allow very slow dimming and brightening _(to give a pulse effect)? _


Terra,

There are a couple options I use that might help you out. The first is Jeff at Simple Circuit Boards, http://www.simplecircuitboards.com/HauntedHouse.html, has these boards for sale by request:

* Random AC Lamp Flickerer - Shorting out bulb effect
* Programmable/Random Lamp Dimmer - Dimming effect

The first board use a PIC with a set program. For a small fee, Jeff can program any dimming program you need like ramp up to 100% over 10 seconds, dim to 10% over 20 seconds, etc. Works with 110V lights and I have used them successfully with Rope lighting as well. Great pricing and Jeff is awesome to work with as we all know.

For my LED lights with DMX, I really love the items from Seasonal Entertainment. I use their Rainbow Brain, http://seasonalentertainmentllc.com/rainbowbrain.htm (kit or assembled) which gives me DMX control over 5 individual RGB ports. It does use RJ45 instead of XLR for DMX connections (adapters are easy to build and also available from their site). Their Rainbow Floods offer a huge amount of RGB LED lighting and they have smaller units available like spots and wall washers. For the Rainbow floods, you can install them in an outdoor rated flood light enclosure from Lowe's or Home Depot. I use mine outdoors for both Halloween and Christmas with no issues. They also offer great support - if you mess up a DIY kit, they will fix or replace it.

Just a thought... the Darklight systems products are awesome, but like many haunters, I am on a budget.

Joe


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*great suggestions!*



joepolicy said:


> Terra,
> 
> There are a couple options I use that might help you out. The first is Jeff at Simple Circuit Boards, http://www.simplecircuitboards.com/HauntedHouse.html, has these boards for sale by request:
> 
> ...


Joe, these are excellent solutions to what Terra wants to achieve. What we provide is usually for professional haunts and theme parks so it may be overkill to some home haunt applications.

Since this post is for educational purposes only, I have nothing against more cost-effective solutions than ours.


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## Misdomt (Oct 26, 2010)

Great Post Thrilltainment! I have been doing several projects with LED lighting recently. Having taken a few EE classes, it wasn't too bad. You broke it down and explained everything perfectly enought to take the fear out of it for anyone who wants to try it out. Thanks again!


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*glad to help!*



Misdomt said:


> Great Post Thrilltainment! I have been doing several projects with LED lighting recently. Having taken a few EE classes, it wasn't too bad. You broke it down and explained everything perfectly enought to take the fear out of it for anyone who wants to try it out. Thanks again!


no problem, I'm an electrical and mechanical engineer by trade so I'm happy to share any of my experiences here. I'm sure there are other knowledgeable people out there that can contribute to this thread, so hopefully they'll see this and we can get a good discussion going to help everyone out =)

if you have any further questions, ask away!


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

joepolicy said:


> Terra,
> 
> There are a couple options I use that might help you out. The first is Jeff at Simple Circuit Boards, http://www.simplecircuitboards.com/HauntedHouse.html, has these boards for sale by request:
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for those links! I'll have to check those out further when officially get into the lighting part of the horse. Been collecting thoughts and ideas on how to get this done that can survive outside for 30 days. Looks very promising. 

Also been talking with Hauntek about those 10 watt LED floods I talked about in the Transworld thread. I may just go ahead and get some. If they don't work for the horse, at least they could be used in other applications because they are outdoor resistant.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

Terra said:


> Thanks so much for those links! I'll have to check those out further when officially get into the lighting part of the horse. Been collecting thoughts and ideas on how to get this done that can survive outside for 30 days. Looks very promising.
> 
> Also been talking with Hauntek about those 10 watt LED floods I talked about in the Transworld thread. I may just go ahead and get some. If they don't work for the horse, at least they could be used in other applications because they are outdoor resistant.


do you have a link to that thread or the HaunTek product? i went to their website but it's down. I'd like to see how our lights would compare, all the lights we make are water resistant, some are even water submersible.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*LED lighting in action*

notice the vivid colors that can be achieved with LED lights. The great thing about LEDs is that the color is INHERENT to the LED semi-conductor material being used, in layman terms, you get a much more PURE color with LEDs than you do with traditional bulbs and a color filter (gel).

here are a few examples of what LEDs can do for your scenes:


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

thrilltainment said:


> do you have a link to that thread or the HaunTek product? i went to their website but it's down. I'd like to see how our lights would compare, all the lights we make are water resistant, some are even water submersible.


Yesh, he said he's going to try to get the info on his site ASAP. Here's the picture I took of it. What was appealing was that it has a remote control that I can pick 12 or so colors, pulse and strobe:


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

Terra said:


> Yesh, he said he's going to try to get the info on his site ASAP. Here's the picture I took of it. What was appealing was that it has a remote control that I can pick 12 or so colors, pulse and strobe:


neat. a bit on the bulky side but 10 watts should be pretty bright, how much were they?

we plan on coming out with brighter models next year to focus more on outdoors.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Yeah, they are a bit bulky, but to me, they look more like landscaping lights so they should handle a lot of abuse. It was $60 at the show. I think he's planning on selling them for $70 retail.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

good deal, they run on 12V or does it plug right into the 110V outlet?


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Not sure.... I know they they come out of the box ready to be plugged into the wall. Don't know if they have a wall wart attached. I'm sort of going to take a leap of faith with them to see if they'll work. The draw back that I found was that they will pulse only in white color mode _(no idea why)_ but Hauntek is selling me some repositional color gels to get the colors I want when it's in pulsing mode. They are also offering a 30 watt version for around $200, but perhaps it would be better than getting several 10 watt ones. Still deciding.

If you are looking to go into specialty LED lights that would be used for outdoor set-ups in home haunts I think you'd have a market. It's frustrating to find a very bright LED light that you can change colors, dim, strobe pulse. DMX controllable would be even cooler but not many home haunters use that. The only ones I found that are outdoor rated at the ColoRado's from Chauvet but they kill you price-wise and no way affordable to home haunters. So, been looking at LED rope lights and LED Christmas lights and such but this one looked way more flexible. I tend to change up my theme each year and to get pigeon-holed into a specific color or light motion isn't feasible.


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## Jaybo (Oct 18, 2008)

Terra said:


> Not sure.... I know they they come out of the box ready to be plugged into the wall. Don't know if they have a wall wart attached. I'm sort of going to take a leap of faith with them to see if they'll work. The draw back that I found was that they will pulse only in white color mode _(no idea why)_ but Hauntek is selling me some repositional color gels to get the colors I want when it's in pulsing mode. They are also offering a 30 watt version for around $200, but perhaps it would be better than getting several 10 watt ones. Still deciding.
> 
> If you are looking to go into specialty LED lights that would be used for outdoor set-ups in home haunts I think you'd have a market. It's frustrating to find a very bright LED light that you can change colors, dim, strobe pulse. DMX controllable would be even cooler but not many home haunters use that. The only ones I found that are outdoor rated at the ColoRado's from Chauvet but they kill you price-wise and no way affordable to home haunters. So, been looking at LED rope lights and LED Christmas lights and such but this one looked way more flexible. I tend to change up my theme each year and to get pigeon-holed into a specific color or light motion isn't feasible.


Take a look at this outdoor rated DMX RGB LED Spot from StageApe


They are only asking $63.00 for the light. I've been thinking about getting one for months, just can't seem to pull the trigger.


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## SavageEye (Aug 30, 2010)

Do UV LED's give you the look and feel that a traditional fluorescent black light provides?


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

SavageEye said:


> Do UV LED's give you the look and feel that a traditional fluorescent black light provides?


UV LED lights are SIMILAR to traditional fluorescent black lights but the wavelengths are commonly longer. UV LEDs are commonly around 390nm-405nm in wavelength while florescent black lights are around 350 or 370nm.

Practically speaking, both fluorescent black lights and UV LEDs can both make fluorescent or glow paint "pop out". But from what I've heard (haven't tested it myself), UV LEDs don't seem to light up "invisible paint". If you're not dealing with that type of paint, sometimes UV LEDs may actually pop the image out even more because the light is very concentrated and directional.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

Terra said:


> Not sure.... I know they they come out of the box ready to be plugged into the wall. Don't know if they have a wall wart attached. I'm sort of going to take a leap of faith with them to see if they'll work. The draw back that I found was that they will pulse only in white color mode _(no idea why)_ but Hauntek is selling me some repositional color gels to get the colors I want when it's in pulsing mode. They are also offering a 30 watt version for around $200, but perhaps it would be better than getting several 10 watt ones. Still deciding.
> 
> If you are looking to go into specialty LED lights that would be used for outdoor set-ups in home haunts I think you'd have a market. It's frustrating to find a very bright LED light that you can change colors, dim, strobe pulse. DMX controllable would be even cooler but not many home haunters use that. The only ones I found that are outdoor rated at the ColoRado's from Chauvet but they kill you price-wise and no way affordable to home haunters. So, been looking at LED rope lights and LED Christmas lights and such but this one looked way more flexible. I tend to change up my theme each year and to get pigeon-holed into a specific color or light motion isn't feasible.


Terra that's really good advice. We may create a remote control version of our light for next year and try to find a good price point for home haunters --- the problem with remote control is expandability. Since our main market has been the larger production haunts and amusement parks which tend to use more lights than home haunts, they require a centralized system to control lights instead of having a bunch of remote controls to worry about.

However, I can see where remote control would be very convenient for a small number of lights. Stay tuned ;-)


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*good but there are some optical drawbacks*



Jaybo said:


> Take a look at this outdoor rated DMX RGB LED Spot from StageApe
> 
> 
> They are only asking $63.00 for the light. I've been thinking about getting one for months, just can't seem to pull the trigger.


That is actually a pretty good price for the features. There is one drawback to this type of lighting design (purely from a optics / technical standpoint): because the LEDs are placed individually and spaced apart, the light source for different colors will come at different angles. You can see how the reds and the blues are spaced apart and the green is close together. If you have a subject relatively close to the fixture, this may cast different colored shadows in different directions. For haunted house use, this may not be a huge concern, but for theatrical lighting purposes, it's not the best solution.

In our Precision DMX light, we have red, green, and blue chips built into a single LED to keep the light source at the same point. We also use special lens to further blend the colors. The result is a much more uniform color and shadow distribution.

You'll also see on many Chauvet DMX lights with 100+ small LEDs of different colors, they have the same problem when you project different colors: you'll see rings of red, green, and blue around the edges of the spot you're projecting. This is caused by a non single-point light source.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Jaybo said:


> Take a look at this outdoor rated DMX RGB LED Spot from StageApe
> 
> 
> They are only asking $63.00 for the light. I've been thinking about getting one for months, just can't seem to pull the trigger.


Well, well!! That the first DMX controllable and affordable larger LED light seen _(and I've Googled a lot)_. Comparing the two they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

_*This one, Pros: *_
DMX controllable!
Master/Slavable

*Cons:*
6 watt
no pulses in auto mode


_*Hauntek, Pros: *_
10 watt
Pulses in auto mode

_*Cons:*_
Not DMX 
Don't think it's master/slavable

Man, pretty even... but having DMX ability..._ (drooling)_ 

Went ahead earlier today and had already ordered the 10 watters but the StageApe's looks like an awesome one for DMX and master/slave ability. Thanks so much for the link. Hey, if you ever pull the trigger one day, please let me know what you think. Hauntek said to expect the lights late April and I'll report in.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*classes on LEDs to be taught at WCHC and MHC*

just a quick update, for those who want more info about installing LEDs, I will be teaching a class at th West Coast Haunters Convention in Salem, Oregon as well as the Midwest Haunters Convention in Columbus, Ohio in the next two months.


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## SavageEye (Aug 30, 2010)

thrilltainment said:


> just a quick update, for those who want more info about installing LEDs, I will be teaching a class at th West Coast Haunters Convention in Salem, Oregon as well as the Midwest Haunters Convention in Columbus, Ohio in the next two months.


Any possibility that you will be taking video of the class so that we can view later?


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

SavageEye said:


> Any possibility that you will be taking video of the class so that we can view later?


that is certainly possible. I'll see what I can do =)
by the way, here's a simple PDF I made last year that goes over some of the topics I cover:
http://www.e5design.com/Safe_Lighting_for_Haunts.pdf


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## phil121 (Oct 25, 2009)

Brilliant tutorial, i like the great depth you went into on the subject, i'll be sure to think about how i can use more LED's for my display.
Phil


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## thxboy (Nov 10, 2009)

thrilltainment said:


> that is certainly possible. I'll see what I can do =)
> by the way, here's a simple PDF I made last year that goes over some of the topics I cover:
> http://www.e5design.com/Safe_Lighting_for_Haunts.pdf


PDF tutorial was great! I have a follow up question: If using replacement LED bulbs, can you wire those directly to a animation controller with relays?


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*Simple Answer: YES you can.*



thxboy said:


> PDF tutorial was great! I have a follow up question: If using replacement LED bulbs, can you wire those directly to a animation controller with relays?


YES! those will work just fine. Relays are essentially just like having a robot automatically flipping a wall switch for you.


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## lorod (Apr 19, 2010)

Thrilltainment, thank you for the very cool tutorial. I really learned a lot! Keep up the great work......the Darklight LED lights are great. I am seriously thinking of getting a few for my home haunt....even though they are a bit on the pricey side, I can totally see how well they were designed and build.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

Thank you for the compliment lorod,
the one thing that makes our company different from most vendors is that we also operate our own haunted house, so we can understand the need for safe, compact, and modular lighting.

our spotlights are mainly sold to professional haunted houses, theme parks, and museums where they are concerned with installing 50-200 fixtures. at that point, the time they save installing our products makes economic sense.

as for home haunters on a budget, i can also teach inexpensive (although a bit more time consuming) ways to build your own LED spotlights.


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## thxboy (Nov 10, 2009)

I second that. Thanks for the good advice thrillanmnet.

I also wanted to throw up a couple of posts in conversation that we were having off thread about LED and DMX. We thought they might be relevant to the current topic.

"For lightning effects, I would NOT recommend standard relays because the speed at which a relay can switch on and off is quite slow compared to the flickering and flashing of a lightning strike. With a relay, you'll simply get a blinking effect and nothing close to a flicker or a flash. Now, a SOLID STATE RELAY, may be able to do it, I'll explain more below.

There are quite a few LED solutions out there that CAN light up the side of a house, LEDs nowadays can be made into fixtures that are as bright, if not even brighter, than the standard lights they are replacing. For outdoor applications, you're probably looking at a wash light of some sort, it can be LED but it doesn't have to be.

As for lightning effects, I know a company named Lights Alive that makes professional lightning simulators, they essentially take audio input and convert it into a light signal. However, a lightning simulator of that sort is several hundred dollars.

If you're looking for something on a cheaper end and willing to do a bit of hacking, you can purchase a sound to light circuit board: 404 - Document Not Found

and then hook up the LED output as a signal for a SOLID STATE RELAY to turn on and off. you can use the solid state relay in series with any light you have to get it to flash with the sound. the circuit above also lets you adjust the sensitivity of the input sound signal."


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## thxboy (Nov 10, 2009)

My second question was a follow up about how to gauge LED brightness and the links provided were very "illuminating" (cheesy I know and I was tempted several time not to take the pun, but what the heck). 

"DMX will be able to generate the type of lightning sequences you're talking about, but you'll need a DMX control stage with built-in memory. W/o memory, you're gonna be the one manually adjusting the sliders to make the lightning effects.

I took a look at the DiNotte lights... DAMN those are expensive!!! haha...

Often the hardest question to answer is "how bright is it?" --- people are so used to traditional lights and wattage that LEDs specs doesn't mean much.

our Precision Z lights have a large range in brightness depending on the color:
Red 50lm 620nm
Green 70lm 515nm
Blue 20lm 455nm
Amber 45lm 585nm
Cool White 90lm 6500K
Warm White 75lm 2850K
UV 15lm 395nm

Even though this is technical data, it's hard to gauge its brightness unless you actually try it out. The best data I can show with my lights are from our reference images page: http://www.darklightsystem.com/pages...ce-Images.html

USB to DMX controllers are great, I found a piece of software that's free (but it's partly in German) but runs really well with more features than I can possibly use, it's called PC-DIMMER: http://www.pcdimmer.de/

If you want to get a mix of different lights, you have to be sure you're outputting the right kind of power to each light. Traditional incandescents will plug directly into something like this:
http://www.americandj.eu/default/dp-...on-schuko.html
our DMX lights work off of any 12V DC power source
and DMX Par Cans connect directly to the wall outlet"


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## thxboy (Nov 10, 2009)

BTW - I'm going to pick up a Enntec USB / DMX and start down that road. The more I look into it and the more I'm starting to lean on VSA to control things in my haunt I think the investment will be worth it. I was able to hobble things together last year pretty easily but I was only running a single 4min with a 4 min pause in a loop. This year my plan is to run 3 different shows ranging from 3-5 min each. All with synced lighting, sound and animatronic effects (adding a second skelly). Now I need to go write down my lighting shopping list......


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*another place to buy the sound to light circuit*



thxboy said:


> I second that. Thanks for the good advice thrillanmnet.
> 
> I also wanted to throw up a couple of posts in conversation that we were having off thread about LED and DMX. We thought they might be relevant to the current topic.
> 
> ...



in case anyone wants another link to the sound to light circuit: http://www.designnotes.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MK103&Category_Code=mik


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

thxboy said:


> BTW - I'm going to pick up a Enntec USB / DMX and start down that road. The more I look into it and the more I'm starting to lean on VSA to control things in my haunt I think the investment will be worth it. I was able to hobble things together last year pretty easily but I was only running a single 4min with a 4 min pause in a loop. This year my plan is to run 3 different shows ranging from 3-5 min each. All with synced lighting, sound and animatronic effects (adding a second skelly). Now I need to go write down my lighting shopping list......


once you have it up and running, please post a video or at least pictures! love to see it.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

*how to create a DIY CHEAP mini-pinspot*

required materials:
- pre-soldered 12V LED of your choice (you can buy them by the bundle on ebay)
- paper clip
- heat-shrink tubing (large enough to fit over the LED assembly)


if you don't have pre-soldered LEDs, you can always make your own with an LED and a matching resistor (shown on the first page of the tutorial)

1. open up paperclip and wrap one end of the wire around the base of the pre soldered LED
2. cut the heat-shrink tubing to approx 2" or as desired
3. slip the heat-shrink tubing over the LED assembly and make sure it covers the part of the paper clip that wraps around the LED
4. heat up the base of the heat shrink so that the tubing will hold the paperclip and LED assembly in place, be careful to not heat up the size the light will come out from --- if you do, the tube will pinch the light from coming out.

and you're done! the paperclip will be a cheap way to attach your pinspot to walls via a screw or you can wrap it around poles or other fixtures.

very cheap and easy to make.


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## Keosilver (Sep 19, 2010)

This is just a tip for folks who hate circular pools of light caused by LEDs. If you want a wash effect with the color, to diffuse the light, simply use clear silicone sealant. Have fun folks!


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## Bobbywan (Dec 16, 2011)

Great tip! Thanks!

Bobby


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## Crematory (Oct 6, 2011)

LED's, while they may be more expensive, are naturally safer because they don't get nearly as hot as traditional bulbs. The couple extra dollars is well worth the prevention of a fire.


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## ThAnswr (Dec 17, 2008)

I am so massively confused. I have read this thread over and over and over again. I still can't figure out how to get from a single led soldered to a resistor and powered by a 9 volt battery to lighting up an outside cemetery scene. 

I've also gone over the other led pin spot threads on this forum. It's just not getting through. 

Any help or "LED Lighting for Dummies" tutorial would be appreciated. 

Thanks in advance.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

ThAnswr said:


> I am so massively confused. I have read this thread over and over and over again. I still can't figure out how to get from a single led soldered to a resistor and powered by a 9 volt battery to lighting up an outside cemetery scene.
> 
> I've also gone over the other led pin spot threads on this forum. It's just not getting through.
> 
> ...




If I may make a suggestion to help you out: To save yourself a headache, you should either take some primer courses in basic electronics, pick up some school books on the subject, or search for basic electronics theory on the web. Without a rudimentary understanding of the workings of electricity, circuit design, & electronics...a project like that can be confusing. Of particular interest relevant to your ideas: should be the subjects of voltage/current, resistance, diodes, power supply design, & series/parallel/series-parallel circuits (a series-parallel circuit is how to achieve what you want for lighting an entire scene ). 

The reason I refer you to that, is that the LED tutorials you have read over, are pretty much on the most basic level of how-to with respect to electronics. If you aren't grasping it, not to worry. More than likely, all you need is a much more thorough explanation of the theory behind it, and the suggestions I listed are the perfect places to find them. I hope that helps you in your quest!


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

ThAnswr,

While I do recommend a primer on basic electronics, what you're missing is how to take a concept into application.

1. imagine you have that LED, resistor, 9 volt battery circuit --- first thing we're going to do is change the battery to a permanent power source. So you can go to radio shack or look around the house for a 9V AC adapter. It's also called a "wall wart", you plug it into the outlet and it takes your 110V AC power and transformers it to a steady 9V DC output.

2. now that you have a single LED powered by an AC adapter, let's try getting 2 LEDs on the same power supply. Simply take a new LED/resistor pair and solder it onto the the same wires that the first LED/resistor pair is connected to. You now have parallel circuits and you can keep adding more lights in the same fashion up.

3. imagine if each of those LED/resistor pairs were enclosed in some tubing, you now have a pinspot.

I hope that helps,
Quan


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## ThAnswr (Dec 17, 2008)

thrilltainment said:


> ThAnswr,
> 
> While I do recommend a primer on basic electronics, what you're missing is how to take a concept into application.
> 
> ...


Bingo! That's it. While I will admit I am no electrical engineer, I have a basic, if somewhat rudimentary, concept of electricity. What I was missing was a "how to" with a parts list. 

Sometimes the biggest impediment to prop making is not knowing what is out there. I come across many people who want to create, for example, a standing grim reaper. However, they have no idea about pvc pipe, fittings, etc. On more than one occasion, I've lifted the robe and they're amazed how simple it all is. And a new prop maker is created. 

I've made many simple led/resistor/battery thingies mostly for flickering candles. What I couldn't quite understand was how to take it to the next step and create a pin spot. 

I did find this how-to and it was very helpful. 

http://www.ehow.com/how_4836713_design-simple-led-circuit.html

Thanks all for your help.

One more question: Where on Ebay do you find the soldered resistor led's? Hobbies, electrical, etc? 

Again, thanks all.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

here's a link: http://www.besthongkong.com/12vdc-prewired-leds/12vdc-15cm-5mm-prewired-ultra-led-pick-color

there may be cheaper ones on the web somewhere, just look for prewired leds

cheers!


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## ThAnswr (Dec 17, 2008)

Thank you.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

just a quick update, I'll be teaching a class on LED lighting for your show at West Coast Haunters Convention Saturday, June 2, 2012 in Portland, OR. If anyone would like to ask me questions 1 on 1 during the convention, I'd be happy to help.

- Quan


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## SavageEye (Aug 30, 2010)

thrilltainment said:


> just a quick update, I'll be teaching a class on LED lighting for your show at West Coast Haunters Convention Saturday, June 2, 2012 in Portland, OR. If anyone would like to ask me questions 1 on 1 during the convention, I'd be happy to help.
> 
> - Quan


Hey Quan, I am sure that you would get a lot of exposure if you taped your class and posted it online. I know that I would watch it! Thanks.


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## thrilltainment (Mar 5, 2010)

SavageEye said:


> Hey Quan, I am sure that you would get a lot of exposure if you taped your class and posted it online. I know that I would watch it! Thanks.


hey, sorry but i only saw this months after your response --- i would like to have it taped but sometimes it conflicts with the convention as they'd much rather have people ATTEND to see the class than to just get a copy somewhere online.

but hey, this forum is open to questions so anything you wanna ask me regarding LED lighting in general, I will try my best to address them. My background is in electrical engineering and robotics so I should be able to answer MOST technical questions regarding LED lighting.

one key takeaway from my class was to educate people on the difference between using pure colored LEDs vs. white LEDs + colored gels.
here's a good summary of it that FrightProps posted: http://www.frightprops.com/faq/index.php?action=artikel&id=185


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