Homemade pool table light

Mohrt,
Any more updates? Have you been able to experiment more?

I'm thinking of making a custom light with a hole in the middle to mount a camera directly over the center of the table. But I have to first find the right lens that will capture the whole table. The LED strip lights would be perfect for this, as they can be shaped in any configuration.

Thanks.
 
I have a couple of concepts put together. I also looked into mounting a camera, it will take a wide angle lens from close range. 48"
 
Check out how crisp the shadows of the tables are below the ultra LED's. They light the rest of the floor space pretty well. They might be even TOO bright? But they do cover the entire area in light and I'm sure the balls are super clear.

Do you guys like pure white light like this (seems a little 'cold') or something with a hint of yellow?

row_of_tables.jpg
 
CreeDo said:
Do you guys like pure white light like this (seems a little 'cold') or something with a hint of yellow?

row_of_tables.jpg
Click to expand...

I definitely prefer "warm" white (the version with a little bit of yellow). The "cool" white is just too sterile and harsh on my eyes after more than an hour. Warm white is also a lot more natural looking (same color as sunlight).
 
CreeDo said:
Check out how crisp the shadows of the tables are below the ultra LED's. They light the rest of the floor space pretty well. They might be even TOO bright? But they do cover the entire area in light and I'm sure the balls are super clear.

Do you guys like pure white light like this (seems a little 'cold') or something with a hint of yellow?

row_of_tables.jpg
Click to expand...

The bulbs I use are 4100k which are middle of the scale. No yellow, no blue, just light. I think they are perfect.
 
Tommy Carmichael's lights area great & he's a good guy.

I took the picture you see, it was in the McGoos Tournament Room, which is no more.
 
I thought I had an original idea... Damn, still moving forward and looking to make a light for GC3 9', matching stain but low profile. Need some technical advice from my electrician FIL and a good friend of mine has a full service production wood shop, Probably a high gloss low profile 8' light. When things get started I'll start my own thread.
 
Hi Mohrt,

I've just spent a bunch of hours researching these lights to buy them for myself. I think I'm going to get a 120/meter 3538 strip, and also a 60/meter 5050 strip, in both cool white and bright white, to see which I like best.

In reading the specs on the 3528, 120 diode/meter strips, they draw .8 A per meter. I see you were using a 1A power supply (I think for your whole setup). Did you ever try a larger wattage power supply? You were very undersize on your PS if I'm reading the specs correctly.

I'm going to get one of these power supplies I think:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006IO72K8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1BREQ8I6OHSBG

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007C055BK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1OWDRCIVB2B4J

I also fooled around with my camera, standing on the table and seeing if it can get it from over head. If it did, I want to incorporate the camera into the light design.

So far, its a no go on the camera. My ceiling is 6' higher than the bed of the table. It takes a fish eye lens on my setup to see the whole table, and I'm not sure I like the look. I have a couple other wide angel lenses on order, to see how I like them.

An overhead shot of just half the table looks great. I wonder if I can have a camera at each end of the table, and combine their picture in my capture software.

Another option I'm thinking of in my case, is to mount the strips directly to the ceiling, instead of in a box. This would be for an aesthetic sleekness. I could have an acrylic channel that just cover the individual strips. So when you look up, you see just individual frosted glass looking strips. Not sure if I will go this path or not.
 
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Wow I just went to Home Depot to see what is what. They sell an 8' roll of the 5050 series RGB lights for $55! eBay has these in a 16' roll for about $15. Yikes.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY1xEncQSik

This video shows the extrusions I was thinking about. I'm wondering instead of making some sort of a box roughly the size of the table, to instead put these extrusions right on my ceiling, along the perimeter of the table.

I think I might buy a small length of them and see how I like them. They are more expensive than the LED's! Yikes.
 
Thanks for bumping this up, I am about to get my new table installed and the room does not have enough ceiling clearance for a regular hanging light (it's an older house basement). These would work great just ran along the ceiling. I even have a friend who is an electrician to wire it up for me.
 
I'm tempted to try two of these kits to light a 9' table. Each kit includes a dimmer, power supply, and 16.4 feet of warm white 5050 LEDs (the bright kind), for only $23.88 each on Amazon Prime:

http://www.amazon.com/SUPERNIGHT-Ribbon-Plug-To-Use-Waterproof-Transformer/dp/B00BPIWY28

My thinking is to mount them on a 1/4" plywood board, then suspend some eggshell diffusers about 2-4" below the lights, and cover the edges with something. This should add some nice directionality to the light – I want it to just cover the edges of the table, and not spill into the room or glare in the shooter's peripheral vision.

I'm hoping the two sets would be too bright normally, and that I could crank them up to full power when video taping sessions. If two aren't enough, I'll have no problem adding one or two more sets.

Anyone see a problem with this plan? :)
 
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