diybry
Novice Member
hi All,
Having been inspired by some of the star ceiling projects on here, I'm part way through installing a star ceiling. Having finished the pelmet, which will have the usual recessed led tape lighting, I'm now looking at the details of the star ceiling itself. This will be 2.5 sheets of 2440 X 1220 5.5 mm ply, fixed and 25mm offset from the ceiling using 30 Neo magnets.
So this brings me to the star layout itself. I'm aiming for a really immersive, 3D effect. Looking at the excellent examples on here and around the net, key elements to achieve this seem to be: ( any further ideas would be welcomed)
1) diffuse light from the periphery LEDs should fade into the night sky, with no stars in this area.
2) use a very non reflective black background material.
3) Use at least 3 different diameters of fibre optics to achieve the near/far effect
4) Ensure star positions are random, it also seems that star density should increase a little towards the horizons, upto the point where the periphery light is visible
5) Less seems to be more for the overhead area, larger but more widely stars seem to work well in this area.
6) Stars should basically be white, with a random few being lightly coloured. I've read somewhere that simply painting the fibre end with a highlighting pen will do this, has anybody tried this or used other methods?
All the above seems do-able with some carefull planning.
However, there is one item I can't see how to reproduce, and that's how to create a diffuse, very distant milky galaxy effect, as raw end glow fibre seems to give a very focussed area of bright light, perfect for individual stars, but not a diffuse effect. Commercially available end fittings don't seem to provide this either.
One idea I've had is to perhaps position say about 5~10 0.25 mm fibres in the 'galaxy' area, cover them with some diffusing material, such as translucent white plastic, then cover this with a thin, open weave black material to maintain a uniform black appearance when switched off in daylight.
Any ideas or input would be most welcome
Having been inspired by some of the star ceiling projects on here, I'm part way through installing a star ceiling. Having finished the pelmet, which will have the usual recessed led tape lighting, I'm now looking at the details of the star ceiling itself. This will be 2.5 sheets of 2440 X 1220 5.5 mm ply, fixed and 25mm offset from the ceiling using 30 Neo magnets.
So this brings me to the star layout itself. I'm aiming for a really immersive, 3D effect. Looking at the excellent examples on here and around the net, key elements to achieve this seem to be: ( any further ideas would be welcomed)
1) diffuse light from the periphery LEDs should fade into the night sky, with no stars in this area.
2) use a very non reflective black background material.
3) Use at least 3 different diameters of fibre optics to achieve the near/far effect
4) Ensure star positions are random, it also seems that star density should increase a little towards the horizons, upto the point where the periphery light is visible
5) Less seems to be more for the overhead area, larger but more widely stars seem to work well in this area.
6) Stars should basically be white, with a random few being lightly coloured. I've read somewhere that simply painting the fibre end with a highlighting pen will do this, has anybody tried this or used other methods?
All the above seems do-able with some carefull planning.
However, there is one item I can't see how to reproduce, and that's how to create a diffuse, very distant milky galaxy effect, as raw end glow fibre seems to give a very focussed area of bright light, perfect for individual stars, but not a diffuse effect. Commercially available end fittings don't seem to provide this either.
One idea I've had is to perhaps position say about 5~10 0.25 mm fibres in the 'galaxy' area, cover them with some diffusing material, such as translucent white plastic, then cover this with a thin, open weave black material to maintain a uniform black appearance when switched off in daylight.
Any ideas or input would be most welcome