# Tron



## chef (Jun 7, 2010)

Great Work! Always love a good Tron costume. How much/ft. EL wire did you use. Also, where did you purchase it? Keep up the good work.


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## knguyen (Jun 25, 2012)

Thanks! I used about 150' of EL wire, I bought 3 50' EL Wires plus all the connectors and such from www.EZ-EL.com . I put all the connectors on a wet suit and everything else was just an add on, that's what makes this costume awesome! I can just switch out whatever I want because it's basically modular and customizable.


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## VexFX (Oct 19, 2010)

Nice job, it looks really great!

A colleague of mine worked on the EL suits for the most recent Tron movie. Lot of horror stories!

Here is a simulator I wrote that demonstrates an EL wire suit I made a few years back: http://www.vexfx.com/elSuit.html
Used an Arduino micro controller with an 8 channel EL wire sequencer.


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## knguyen (Jun 25, 2012)

VexFX said:


> Nice job, it looks really great!
> 
> A colleague of mine worked on the EL suits for the most recent Tron movie. Lot of horror stories!
> 
> ...


Horror stories?! What horror stories about Tron have you heard?! haha, I haven't heard of any yet D:

That suit looks great! You should find a way to make it respond to noise that'd be totally cool!

We've done a project that uses a sequencer before as well! Not on a costume yet though, I'll have to try that out soon.


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## VexFX (Oct 19, 2010)

Without disclosing too much... The movie suits had a number of problems/challenges. Lot of compound curves which EL wire (or in this case custom silk-screened EL sheets/ribbons) does not like. Issues with the latex suits curing and shrinking, making it difficult to fit the EL strips into recessed channels. Strips flexing too far during movement and breaking. Actors unable to sit or perform some movements without damaging the suits, etc. In the end a fair bit of the EL failed on set and was redone during post production.


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## knguyen (Jun 25, 2012)

VexFX said:


> Without disclosing too much... The movie suits had a number of problems/challenges. Lot of compound curves which EL wire (or in this case custom silk-screened EL sheets/ribbons) does not like. Issues with the latex suits curing and shrinking, making it difficult to fit the EL strips into recessed channels. Strips flexing too far during movement and breaking. Actors unable to sit or perform some movements without damaging the suits, etc. In the end a fair bit of the EL failed on set and was redone during post production.


Ohhhh! Horror stories of working with the EL wire! haha, I thought you meant Tron horror stories!

I didn't experience this, but I do know that one of the tutorials on youtube showed a challenge where he cut the wet suit, and then it shrunk. Like I said, only my connectors were sewn into the wet suit, everything else like the shin guards, helmet, etc., were all powered by the wet suit. So in a way that made it easier to create. We went with this because we knew it would be sturdier, thus minimizing wear and tear.

I hope the touch ups of the costume looked great and are still intact!


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## BeaconSamurai (Nov 5, 2009)

That suit is simply AWESOME!


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## knguyen (Jun 25, 2012)

Thanks! It means a lot =).

First costume (that wasn't bought from party city) haha. Took so many hours but it paid off.


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

I figure if the producers of Tron had trouble with the EL wire I shouldn't feel so bad about getting frustrated and giving up on using it.

What I really want to try sometime is sideglow fiber optic cable with a green or UV laser pointer (UV "blue"-violet is safe, some true-blue lasers can blind you just by looking at the dot).


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## knguyen (Jun 25, 2012)

What sort of problems were there? Just like suit flexibility and things like that? I had some problems with sewing, but that wasn't the EL wire. I was just too big for the suit on some parts and had to sew again =), but keep in mind it was also my first time sewing haha.

Interesting, never heard of that, please don't blind anyone

You should try it though, i'd like to see, I wonder how bright it's gonna be, and since it's a laser pointer.. how would it look on the suit.... I'm not exactly sure....


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## DeathDealer (Jun 18, 2004)

Looks great knguyen! Only adjustments might be with the symmetry, but I think the legs are an illusion created by your stance and the front view looks like the shoulder bell illuminator dropped since it is in place for the back view. I think you are set for Halloween.

I did a young Kevin Flynn costume last year that was something of a battle armor variant.


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## DarkManDustin (Jun 30, 2011)

Great suit. The costumes and sets for the newest movie were done by a company in my hometown.


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## DarkManDustin (Jun 30, 2011)

Great suit. The costumes and sets for the newest movie were done by a company in my hometown. Synaptics Electric, or something.


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## combatmed1 (Sep 28, 2010)

Looks great, I think you can take some pointers from this guy though


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