Make Glowing LED costume eyes

[MAXIMUMGODZILLA45]

just asking where did you put the led bulbs at exactly on the eyes? were they behind the plexi-glass or in another layer of it?

[bradbaldo]

Thanks for this video, it gave me the knowledge I needed to finally finish my black mage costume with glowing eyes!

[legoclockfreak710]

thats epic!!!!

[Rabbit0]

Have to love how you did step by step, thanks. Not sure if it's just my comp but when I listen to this with headphones the sound only comes from the left side. Just wanted to let you know.

[AntsPushingFruitLoop]

These eyes look great ^^ I will be using this tutorial when I start fursuiting next month for my 16th B-day? I have seen the rosin looking ones in fursuits and Is it possible to make those as well or do you have to order them?

[TimidKyoPuppy]

@AntsPushingFruitLoop If you're talking about resin eyes, it is possible to make them.

There's lots of tutorials here on youtube, if you just search 'How to make resin eyes'. c:

[Thor312full]

cool next halloween new mask

[Raqwaza17]

You say um alot

[gryphern]

@Raqwaza17 The idea is to make the monologue conversational and approachable. I've found that crisp, clean, technical material alienates viewers. My viewership is primarily 45 year old males according to my demographics, and adults don't need to be impressed, they've been there and done that and don't need the pompous. Being perfect isn't necessary and might get in the way. So even if I have a script written, I try to give it the "pulled from my butt, so if I can do it you can do" feel.

[worrmiesroo]

@gryphern Can you see when ur wearing the mask? Is everything tinted red? What does it look like when u are actually wearing it.

[LuchadoreBob]

you should try resin casting for the eyes, youll prolly like the results a bit more since they look a bit better.

[gryphern]

@LuchadoreBob Resin is tough to get into hollow domes and maintain clarity. Do you have tips?

[LuchadoreBob]

@gryphern idk why it would have to be hollow, but if i want to put leds into them i just put the leds in the back side of the cast. if you mix in a plastic cup theyll come out clear, in a wax lined dixie cup theyll come out hazy. try beetlecat's website for more info.

[gryphern]

@LuchadoreBob Weight is a big issue for long wear of masks. A coupe extra ounces here of there can lead to neck cramps and stuff. Otherwise I like to use Nylon resin (as long as I seal i--unsealed resin doesn't every seem to truly cure) or casting expoxy.

[Nabelnoir]

@gryphern What you want is a two piece mold. You could make a two piece rubber mold of a spoon (your eye shaped Lens of choice) and then use liquid resin to make a hollow spoon shaped eye. Search on YT for hollow casting to get an idea of the process involved.

[sangheilisniper]

THANK. YOU. Best tutorial I've found so far! I love step-by-step videos! I'm going to try this out tomorrow :3

[NuArubianDevil]

i like how you keep sayin uuuhm eeeehhm uuuuhhhm xD

[wolvesrockILOVEWOLF]

this was a lot of help THANKS!

[gryphern]

@arollofnegatives I would appreciate lessons. Please share with me your credentials, such as... Professional website, publishings that feature you e-mail as author contact, or Linkedin account with relevant links, so I can be sure you're an authority on the subject. (As opposed to a silly little internet troll) and I will gladly pay to have several speech therapy Skype sessions with you. I do paid Skype consulting for people's projects all the time and am comfy with PayPal, let's do it!

[arollofnegatives]

@gryphern i actually have no idea as to why that comment is there under my name...cos i actually find this video very informative considering i've been looking for a way to do this for a set of masks, so sorry about there, but really, i have no idea how that comment got there.

[gryphern]

@arollofnegatives I have a younger brother who would ruthlessly abuse my accounts if I left them open, such as "I hate you" e-mails to my good girlfriends etc! If you have a young male sibling...beware!!!

[arollofnegatives]

@gryphern haha apparently i do have to keep a better eye on this, again sorry about that, and thanks for the video though it's a really helpful tip for these masks i'm making, so thank you!

[44burn1]

is it possible to make the design of raze contact lenses from kingofswords with blue LEDs

[Kirikirisempai]

how much did it all cost? (without the costume) just the eyes

[gryphern]

@Kirikirisempai Between 20 and 30 dollars depending if you already have batteries. You have to think cheap--like ask a hardware store if they have broken or scrap acrylic sheeting. If I buy a cracked piece it's super cheap--but a 20 X 40 inch sheet of polycarbonate is like $100 bucks.

[DeathDragonSparda]

what ways can you heat and form the acetate sheets and Plexiglas with out useing the torch or the heat gun?

[gryphern]

@DeathDragonSparda Oven. You can use an oven and an aluminum baking pan, the thin one time use ones. To be safe you want to oven dry your plexiglas/acrylic sheeting in an oven (acetate is totally different, I wouldn't use acetate.) The water vapor in the acrylic will bubble out when it gets hot. so unless you live in a really dry climate the acrylic will form unwanted bubbles after it gets slightly above the perfect temperature. i think the temperature is around 200 degrees F.

[gryphern]

@gryphern But do your homework. CALL THE COMPANY and ask about heat forming, they should have heat and cold forming info they can e-mail you or on their website.

[hcd87]

you need pacience e not skill!!!

[breyercrazy103]

i dont have any skills...........;p

[gryphern]

@breyercrazy103

STUDY AND YOU SHALL GAIN THEM.

Learn the fundamentals by reading or talking to an expert, then try practicing them out, potentially under an expert's supervision the first time.

[KingHauken]

Thank you, this helps a lot!

[gryphern]

@KingHauken You're welcome!

[02585975]

elecricity flows from negative to positive not positive to negative

[freewolf775]

so how would you make regular "realistic" eyes that dont glow?

[gryphern]

@freewolf775 Leave out the LEDs! By increasing the amount of detail on the iris you can create a very effective fake eye. For a mascot costume I did for a business I was able to create really realistic eye with round dome lenses over the top.

[freewolf775]

@gryphern *grins* oh okay thank you

[P2Costumes]

Thanks for another great how-to video!

[ductonius]

PRO TIP: Heat shrink tube.

You slip it over the wires before you make a splice and then when done soldering, you move the tube over the join and apply heat. The tube shrinks and makes a tight (in some cases, waterproof) seal around the wires. Works way better than electrical tape.

Good job on the costume nonetheless.

[nekochan1987]

This is PERFECT for what I wanna do with my Black Waltz No.2 Cosplay *thumbs up* a nice an easy tutorial to follow, though I am based in the UK so I'll have to sorce the materials elsewhere than mentioned.

[jasminejer]

waist of time

[gryphern]

@jasminejer Would that be the pinched part of the hour glass?

[ravenwind137]

@jasminejer ...Why'd you even bother to comment then?

[prosper58]

.................. The end.

[NewWindwolf14]

I need to make a similar result for a plush that is part of a cosplay prop. but all this would take too much time i will be working over the summer and im haveing surgery. i also have a lot of feathers that need to go on the prop. how would this work with just a led key chain light? in the prop that can be pulled out then locked on?

[PriceWaterhouseCoopa]

Do you go to MIT?

[gryphern]

@PriceWaterhouseCoopa No, while I'm a huge fan of the Media Lab's "demo or die" mentality, the people currently there don't do animal behavior like when Pepperberg and Blumberg were there, so I'm doing my PhD work at a SUNY school, which is kickass because I get unlimited lab and greenhouse space.

[Arrekushizu1127]

....what if you dont have a sauteing thingy... can you use aluminum foil?

[gryphern]

You can wrap the wires very tightly together, like twist ties, then glue over them, but this will only work for a while. I did some solder-less effects at a convention that way. As you move the wires they become more and more loose, so it's only good for little while. Soldering isn't hard or expensive , the only problem is it gets very hot and you don't want to breath smoke that comes up off the soldering iron. Lots of people own soldering irons, try asking around, even school shop classes.

[Arrekushizu1127]

@gryphern

...how much is it? The soldering thing and where do I get it?

[gryphern]

@Arrekushizu1127 I buy the cheap soldering kits from RadioShack for 8 to 12 US dollars, the kit comes with solder and a clamp. But! Beware! If you don't learn how to do the steps right (tinning the tip,--simple but important) you could melt a cheap soldering tip or accidentally set something on fire, so have a buddy to help teach you or figure it out based on online instructions. The iron takes FOREVER to cool down, so like 10 minutes after unpluging it it can still deliver a very nasty burn.

[greenteahehe]

hahaha the end

[lucaria44]

at the beggining the eyes follow the camera is that suppose to happen its cool if it is

[gryphern]

It's a trick that happens when you have a deep eye. Some statues have the eyes carved going in in instead of bumping out like a real eye shape. This effect is most amazing in "intaglio" or sunken relief. If you get the chance there's an absolutely creepy eye-following portrait of a man done in glass at the Corning museum of glass.

[niaimack]

it sounds like some of them ums... are dubbed in

[x1expert1x]

its so un neat looks like a toy doll eye broken up load of shit

[gryphern]

You should join the CIA as an operative and use those seething statements to drive leaders of terrorist cells to suicide! I bet you'd be good at it--do you speak Urdu or Mande? They could use you in the Congo!

[x1expert1x]

@gryphern were u suppose to be owning/pwning me or somthing? is this suppose to be affensive? idk. i dont get it.....

[gryphern]

Oh! Well, you could start by looking up LCTL departments, Less Commonly Taught Languages. Like, if you took Sinhala at Cornell and became fluent you have a guaranteed 50G a year waiting for you with the state department. Being a polglot is in fashion right now, and even barely literate idiots, if they're functionally fluent in English and the right languages are golden children for government and university hire.

[lucaria44]

in other words PISS OFF

[sgtsovietfox]

you suck the consept of these eyes are amazing!

[GetThemLyrics]

Note: If something happens and your LED leads are the same length you can still figure it out. The LED is round except for one side. That side is flat. The flat side is over the negative lead.

[NerezaDarkBlood]

you do realize you put the material list for the wings on this video not for the eyes ... im righting it down what i need just letting you know

[ReviveGuyv]

I'm just forgetting what I used to know about electronics. Are the resistors for controlling the brightness of the light, or will something burn up if there isn't enough resistance? Does it matter what kind of batteries you use, as well?

[L8nightproductions]

NIceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[ZaoHuZhua]

Wow I didn't understand the paint diagram but the circuit diagram made so much sense.

[BannananaaBrigade]

how would I make dog-like eyes, you know like how thier eyes kind of glow green when theres light on them, or in the dark? ^_^

[gryphern]

If you didn't need to see through them, you could line the back of a fake eye with with tin foil that you colored on with a permanent marker, so it would reflect green. To make it look real you'd need to restrict how light reached the reflective surface so it only reflected when light shined directly at it, you'd need a solid white front with clear pupil, or a solid front with a hole in it.

[gryphern]

if you needed to see through it would be easiest to built a circuit (stuff connected by wires) with a photoresistor in it, you'd stick the photo resistor in the circuit illustrated in this video right before wire splits together to make the eyes or after the split wires come back together. The photoresistor stops electricity from flowing unless there's light shining on it, so the LEDs would only glow when light hit the photoresistor.

[BannananaaBrigade]

Awesome, thanks! ^o^

Aslo my freind wants to know how you make all this stuff. ^_^

[gryphern]

Tell 'em it's about using your time efficiently. If you get a 15 minute break at work or school and you're usually bored, instead bring some graph paper and plan out a design. By the end of the week you'll have almost an hour and a half of design time in. That way, when you set aside time to do a project... you've already got the plan set in your mind, your design is ready to go, and you can start creating--make your work time also be your construction time instead of lots of daydreaming.

[BannananaaBrigade]

Is it possible to make a switch for the photoresistor? ^_^

[gryphern]

Yeah, it would be a physical switch where you could make a connection that would connect two sets of wires with spaces. One way the switch would connect the space between the photoresistor and your circuit, the other way it would connect the space directly between the battery pack and the eyes. you can look up switches online or at radioshack.

[ilikethisand]

how much is the materials? i need something cheap so i dont go over budget

[gryphern]

The price will depend on what you buy, and what you already have at home. For example, soldering and wiring. You can skip the solder and and just wind wire around your electronic parts, but that may come loose--and you can't skip the wires. Put together a supply list and use Google product search to check average prices. Expect between 60 (no supplies at all at home) and $15 (have many supplies at home.)

[ilikethisand]

is there a way you can make the pupil blend in with the eye color?

[gryphern]

If you want that either hide the eyeholes below the eyes, or use plastic lenses, like sunglasses, over the eyes. You could hide LEDs to the side of the lenses and make the glow a little bit, but be careful not to blind the mask wearer with too much light if you go with colored sunglasses lenses.

[ilikethisand]

how much did it cost to make this?

[Thaxos]

If they only glow dimly in the light, then they will not glow "bright" red in the dark. They'll just glow dimly in the dark and be visible instead.

[gryphern]

Today's topic is "relative brightness and human vision." A well lit small room with four large fluorescent lighting tubes is going to be about 150 foot candles in brightness. You can read, sew, and live in such a space comfortably. HOWEVER if you go outside, full sun is going to have an illumination power of 10,000 foot candles. So a very brightly lit room, the kind of lighting used for an intensive work space, would be drowned out by full sunlight.

[gryphern]

This is the same, you can use ultrabright LEDs, and as long as your room lighting or outdoor is a certain percentage more powerful than the LEDs you'll drown them out. So don't assume you need a dim light for the eyes if you want to have a surprise glow that's only noticed in shadow, you just need to understand the relative brightness of your LEDs and the environment the costume will be used in.

[Thaxos]

Hence why I commented to try and clarify

[ilikethisand]

cant you just make the eye and then go buy a red light bulb to stick in it?

[ilikethisand]

can you use yellow led instead? i need to make mine yellow glowing eyes

[gryphern]

Yes! You just need to match the amps and voltage. So call up a radioshack store near you and say "Hi what models of yellow LED do you carry?" And they'll be all "Blah blah blah" and you hang up. Then, go to radioshack's website and look up those model numbers! The website will tell you that each model needs so much "forward voltage" "v" or "volts" and so much "forward current," "mA," or milliamps. So then, you dig around your house for batteries.

[gryphern]

The reason you need to know what batteries you'll use is that rechargeable and regular batteries are different. Use the online calculator put in the battery's voltage, and that you want 2 LEDs, (use a multiple LED calculator instead of a single LED calculator.) If you hook up more than one battery together it may change the math, so start simple with just one battery. Then, based on what the calculator says, call Radioshack and ask for the resistor you need.

[gryphern]

If you need a weird resistor, like "68," go for the closet number radioshack sells, or try using a different battery type (rechargeable versus regular) to get an easier number, like "500" or "10." If your resistor number is lower you may burn out your LED, if the resistor number is higher your LED will be dim.

[DC1337]

I want to do a skull mask with glowing eyes... so ideally I'd want the entire eyesocket to glow. any ideas how I could hide the hole you see through?

[gryphern]

Black door screen can help hide eyes if you make partially hidden ye holes that are small. If you have a big eye hole and the LED is mounted OUTSIDE and a bit away, tinted sunglasses will appear black and reflective, especially if you use a lower power LED that can provide a colored glow but not shine through the glasses to reveal your eyes beneath. Of course screen and tinted lenses diminish vision, so you'd need a partner in case impaired vision became a danger.

[gunsnroses419]

By the way I built your mask

[gryphern]

Rock out! Were you happy with your finished product? Don't let basic circuits be scary! See, the printable diagram with the parts laid out, even shows which long and short wires should point where, then you match up the LEDs and resistors to the numbers we suggest, if you're unsure how to figure out the numbers for a different type of LED.

[gunsnroses419]

Tht would be so cool but it's to confusing for me

[gunsnroses419]

okay thanks i was very happy with my finished costume! Ill print out the finished diagram and make my way over to radio shack. Can you make a video on shaping the plastic with the blowtorch, and does regular plexiglass work?

[chuschalos04]

thanks for the tip

[knowm5]

Anyone know what type of board to use if you want to make lights flash? Please comment me! Thank you!

[gryphern]

You could buy a board or control chip (or find someone with a dev kit and program a chip) but for a regular on/of blink there are LEDs with built in blinking circuits, check radioshack's website. The wiring is easy because the blink circuit is built in.

[chuschalos04]

what if im using orangishred for paint anr red leds would it stile work?

[gryphern]

The red LEDs don't make a lot of orange or yellow light, so only red light would be reflected by your paint, so it'd look red instead of orange when in the dark, BUT orange glowing in the light where white light could provide the orange light your paint reflects while extra red light provides a glow effect. Try using orange LEDs! Look up orange and orange-amber colored LEDS! Just use an online calculator with the current specs listed on a website to pick out the resistors.

[GooboyProductions]

ok thats 2 items for my dragon costume

[partyhatpker]

post a video of it when you're done. I want to see how that comes out.

[GooboyProductions]

ok ill try

[jeffreyadamo]

i have watched most of your videos and i have enjoyed them i apreciate the in-depth instructions and general attitude of them

[greenjeepthing]

is it possible to make a sirten part of the eyes glow?

[gryphern]

Yeah, bunch of possible solutions for that. One solution is to put paint on very thick where you do not want a glow and thin where you do want a glow.

[HikaruTokeshi]

I'm dong a Big Daddy costume from Bioshock.

[HikaruTokeshi]

Big Daddy costume.Lotsa lights.

[gryphern]

Coooooooool. Are you going to wire all the lights yourself?

[HikaruTokeshi]

Yes actually.I happen to have a soldering gun somewhere and I recently got some money to begin.

[Flea5000000000]

what the fuck

[gryphern]

yea, is totally ghey

[ExoticFilmsAndEtc]

gryphern, thank you so much! I'm almost done with the light-up yellow eyes for my Gamera costume! =D

[killer22312]

now i can make my jin roh panzer cop mask look awsome thanks

[guardiansandi]

Great tutorial :) thanks for posting!

[MarowakDidIt]

Next you should to a how-to on arms, hands, legs, shirt... and maybe how to add moving eyebrows?

[gryphern]

I knoooow, I'm playing with control chip right now, and am starting up with animatronics, but I wanna do a full-latex zombie mask tutorial first, I'm trading making a commercial for the supplies in two weeks.

[MarowakDidIt]

Oh, really? Cool! Good luck with that

[MarowakDidIt]

You know, if you somehow made it so only the pupils light up in the dark it could look a lot more realistic... really awesome costume though. Really awesome.

[oddsource]

Should use wire strippers for those wires, their depth set with a screw that allows for length. Love your tutorials, I might try some for this Halloween. The best time of the year, Christmas is over rated, I would rather be a ghoul in the night and take souls as I go, than receive presents under a tree. Adventure is key.

[esQo0020]

cool but it would be even better if you installed night vision in it and in the dark you are ... the mastaaa :D

[BeldenES]

Pardon me if this is a stupid question but I don't know much about wiring electronics. Why are the resistors wired after the LEDs? shouldn't they be wired before the LEDs?

[m23402027]

it is doesn't matter if the resistors are wired before or after the LEDs, because it is just a simple series circuit.

[gryphern]

m23402027 is quite correct the the voltage will be th same in all parts of a series circuit. If you have four lilghtbulbs in your living room, and they are all on the same electric circuit, is the one that gets the electricity first brightest? No! What can get confusing is if you have two loops in your circuit like we do, if one of the loops has more resistance the electricity goes the route of least resistance. You have to use resistors to make sure each component offers the same resistance.

[gaussman08]

FINALLY a woman make an electronic experiment :D

[gryphern]

Las robustezas y la electrónica que las mujeres utilizan no son famosas! Utilice Google y mire el "DESIGNER® SE LIMITED EDITION." Tengo una máquina como eso (pero no como bueno.)

[mifuchan]

Where can you buy said "Florida Chocolate Oranges" after Christmas... I don't think I've seen them after December.

Awesome videos BTW! I'm using them for research and reference material in cosplay designs.

[gryphern]

The "Florida Tropic" brand chocolate oranges are often sold all year long in the candy aisle of large "super stores" with supermarkets like Fred Meyer, in the Northwest. Call around before you go hunting. The stores buy them in display cases so if they haven't sold out over Christmas they will be on the floor until the stock is all sold.

[xXHalfieXx]

wow, you use a lot of glue!

[DivineDarkEvil]

Whoa...O_O I've been looking for something like this! Now I'll be able to improve my zoid cosplay! -dances- You guys are AMAZING!

[PokemonLoverRee]

Cool :)

[Synwolf85]

Let me ask you somethin'--Where in Miami do you think I might find this heat-forming polycarbonate stuff?

[gryphern]

Any sort of acrylic or polycarbonate from Lowe's, Ace, Home Depot etc. Also acetate sheets from hardcore scrapbooking stores! Tell the store dude you want "Plexiglas type sheets, really thin."

[1Cyberangels]

Why not use thing Fiber Optic lights and some batteries, it's safer, or tiny phosphorescence tubes - that's what we use in the theater...

Nice idea though

[gryphern]

It's cuz the project is to introduce circuits & LEDs as opposed to building the ultimate eyes.

I ~~love~~ using electroluminescent wire and tape, but since they run on a different kind of current than the batteries produce you need to have a converter, which can cost $50, increasing the cost of the project dramatically.

Fiber optic filaments (the plastic not glass ones) are affordable but harder to get a hold of. But you bring up a good point, they easily distribute very bright light.

[1Cyberangels]

Thank you - I checked up on all of your projects and all of them are quite interesting, and cool for theater stage as well!! btw tiny phosphorescence tubes braclets can also be found in some of the plastic jeweller department stores... and they cost less that a dollar each...

[gryphern]

Can you find one online and link me via YouTube message? When I've seen are plastic bracelets with an LED and a battery in the clasp.

[1Cyberangels]

I haven't seen them online, but I have seen them on my (8/12-yrs) students in artclass, when I asked where they got it, apparently they were sold everywhere in the department stores teen section, so I got quite a few at LaBaie in Montreal...

[Dischordia007]

You do fantastic work, bravo!

[MarowakDidIt]

Next thing that must be tried: Articulated masks with LED eyes that have working eyelids.

[beelzebubba666]

How do you keep the polycarbonate from warping when applying heat?

[gryphern]

When soft enough to shape it won't drip or deform, it flexes a little, maybe droops a tiny bit. You can be conservative with how much you heat it. Since I don't pre-dry my "Plexiglas & friends" type products when I work with them the moisture in them will bubble before the material warps. Pre-drying in an oven at a lower temperature for a few hours allows you to make the material a lot hotter, and softer, so it will warp without discoloring. I don't have a dedicated oven, so I don't pre-dry.

[beelzebubba666]

Awesome! Thanks!

[itsallaboutmeow]

that's awesome... If I were to make a costume I"d use your parttern but make it like a wear cat or wear tigger, and if i were to use LED eyes i'd do yellow.

hopefully by then I'd have a video camera or just a good digital camera.

record it and what not.

[Rufus555]

Ahh.. dident know that they run with such low power, sorry hehe. And yeah.. el-wire is awsome hehe

[gryphern]

Pfft! No sorry, my question was an honest one. "But why would you turn off part of your costume when wearing the costume?" I figured you were referring to power drain, but there's probably cool effects you'd need to turn the eyes off for, I just didn't think of any yet--maybe hiding in the dark?

El-wire REALLY is cool. I did a costume with the really thin stuff woven into hair by having multiple strands coming off the same battery pack/converter. Huh, I spelled "lose" wrong in my last post!

[Rufus555]

Is the LEDs always on, or did you install a switch?

[gryphern]

Always on, you heave to pop out a battery to turn them off. Tried to keep it as simple as we could for wiring, but adding a switch to would be really simple, or getting a battery holder with a built-in switch.

[Rufus555]

Ahh.. It must be realy hard to pop out one of those batteries with a werepaws though.

[gryphern]

But why would you turn off part of your costume when wearing the costume?

They're 10 millicandella LEDs, they'll run for many, many hours on a battery pack. Once the costume's on you can leave them on so you never have to loose the effect.

The only lower power solution we could come up with would be an electroluminescent sheet/tape or wire but you have to special order your lengths and power converter so it costs a ton more. (Though el-wire is great, I love using it.)

[jugglman]

sweet!!