14:25 - the left one with the diffuser looks incredible, especially in blue; at 16:05 - the one with the full diffuser definately looks better - those diffusers make a real difference; now at 19:46, if it were me I'd be happy with the little change in blue at the ends - or even something that sort of makes the arrow into a 'leading line' with diffused edges that makes it white/blue/white/blue or whatever - that'd be neat too; last comment at 22:02 is GREAT with both diffusers on those - I'd leave those as is!
Looks great Steve, keep up the great work. Don't forget you can try simply raising the spacer for the larger insert shapes. For example, 15mm will give you better coverage than 10mm, and maybe you can get by with just 1 LED instead of 3. I noticed 10mm looks a little close on your 1" circle diffuser with your LEDs. Multiple LEDs poses a risk of making an insert too bright, might be worse than a slightly dimmer single LED spaced further. I also agree with densming to consider just a basic triangle shape instead of the Ghostbusters arrow shape, as that will probably improve light propagation into the corners - assuming you have mounting room. You can also consider my earlier design where I used one screw to mount the LED to the spacer, and another screw to mount the spacer to the playfield - a few extra screws are cheaper and easier than multiple LEDs - for example have 3 mounting screws in the corners of the triangles, and then one screw for the LED at the optimum position.
I’m wondering if, in the ghostbusters style arrows, you can just use a triangle shape for your diffuser and put the led right in the middle? So the light would be equidistant to all three corners the triangle and the led wouldn’t be so close to the “pointy end” of the triangle. It might help the legs of the triangle light more evenly. Your led would be under the playfield itself instead of underneath the insert hole, but it might allow you to use just a single led.
I had a very similar thought. Moreover, the 'diffuser' may not even need to be more or less shaped like the insert. You may be able to get away with just a rectangular diffuser under the more complex arrow shapes (the Ghost Buster one, for example). The light should be relatively evenly distributed and it may save you the extra LEDs that are mentioned.
Excellent question, I'm not sure honestly yet, I'll have to try it and see, I'm not using that shape in my current project, but I'll try out a larger triangle shape and see how well it lights the legs, thanks!
@5:34 You are absolutely right! IF the LED is turned off, You still want the artwork on the play field to be pretty and since this is the ultimate goal... you are on the right track! Also it looks better when the machine is turned off completely. When you use it on a piece where the artwork is about the same colour as the insert, go for it.... i guess...
What if put LEDs on tip of triangle in angle, something like 45-degrees? It could spread light more evenly on whole insert. Could need some shielding to not light other inserts, probably piece of alumin-tape would do the trick.
Thanks for the great video, as always! I had a thought while you were discussing the multiple-LED scenario for the larger arrow inserts, and just thought that using flexible LED Filament may provide a better overall coverage, and that's something you might want to look into! Thanks for the great series!
So your focus was to have a bright light without any hot spotting, really cool idea! What about using a multi-side facing LED instead of a board to get the same effect? I really wonder what your plan looks like in comparison to some of the manf's that don't have shield like this.
Yeah like if you look at Godzilla or any other modern manufactured game, they all have hotspots in their clear inserts. I think their LEDs have a slightly different lens that makes it not quite as harsh, but it's definitely there, you can easily see which inserts have an LED that is off center etc - lots of inserts have text over them that also helps hide the hotspots Once I have my whitewood all wired up with lights I'll do a side by side comparison. Admittedly, hotspots on inserts isn't anything anyone is really complaining about, but it bugged me when I started doing my homebrew so 🤷here we are 😅
An idea could be to make an full black 3d printed enclosure instead of the 8mm wall. Then all the light will go through the diffuser and even might be better spread out?
Sorry thought I had replied earlier - I haven't seen Stern do anything for diffusing hot spots, they definitely have them if you look close, but it's not as bad as the LEDs I'm using, so they likely have a different lens on them that makes it not quite as intense - but if I hover over my Godzilla, I can see hot spots on some of the inserts 🤷
Since my LEDs focus their light straight up, on my machine I've been playing around with putting silver reflective tape on the backside of plastics with LEDs under them to spread the light across the playfield. Reflecting the light essentially doubles the distance the light travels so it spreads out much more and the imperfections in the tape scatter it. It just occurred to me, it might be possible to do something similar for inserts. Essentially mount the led upside down directly to the playfield and use reflective tape to bounce the light back into the insert.
@thepinballroom thank you for the update! No apology necessary seriously! I just discovered your channel this week (thanks for making a Playlist for your build). I have been binge watching your channel and naively didn't expect that like any show I would get caught up to the present! I work in film and TV in NY as a union lighting designer and developer btw so if you have any further questions/need recommendations for diffusing, cutting, or shaping light I'd be happy to give me two cents where welcome. :)
@@NeonNijahn thanks for watching! I'd love suggestions on lighting, tho I kinda gave up on improving my video editing skills as I just don't have much time to spend on it sadly ☹️
@thepinballroom oh I am not an editor and have only a cursory knowledge of that. Your videos are edited just fine for the subject matter. I have a pla and a resin printer and am curious what options might be available for you to create more refined lighting projections. I'm not familiar with the software you're using but I am very familiar with what is known in the theater and film industry as dmx protocol for lighting. Without going into much detail I'm certain a lot could be accomplished by implementing some basic lighting concepts. I recommend the book "painting with light" if you are interested in learning more about lighting. Also the lighting technicians handbook by my friend Harry box.
