Hiiii guys!! I’m planning a Kai’sa costume from league of legends, and I’m absolutely determined to get it glowing!
I’ve never used LEDs in costumes before but I figured it can’t be too hard, right?
I’ve attached a photo of the suit below for reference!
Basically, I’m making the bodysuit out of fabric and cutting out strips from the ribs to make the cuts. My question is, what is the best method to make them light up??
I was thinking about wearing a sports base layer underneath and sticking some LED strips under both layers, and connecting the strips to batteries which I’ll keep in a compartment on my back.
The thing is, I need these strips to be thin and preferably very bendy, and I will likely need to have wires running around my ribs under the suit to get to the battery on my back.
I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas or concerns about my plan, or any better ideas for that matter as I’m a complete novice (but determined to make it happen!)
Thank you!
Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
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- LaraEco
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- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2023 11:38 am
Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
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- adafruit_support_bill
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Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
LED strips are flexible in one axis only. They do not handle complex bends like you will probably encounter around the shoulder area of your costume. The strips also tend to fail with repeated flexing due to cracking of the solder joints.
These strands will handle the flexing much better: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4560
Neopixels can do a whole range of colors and require a microcontroller to drive them. Something like this can handle several hundred pixels: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3675
We also have these strands which are one-color only and just need a battery:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/894
https://www.adafruit.com/product/897
https://www.adafruit.com/product/895
Another option for flexibility is EL wire. But they are not nearly as bright as LEDs. Also, the whine from the inverter can be annoying.
https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=el+wire
Side-light fiber-optics could also work. But it may be hard to hide the bulge from the light source:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4163
These strands will handle the flexing much better: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4560
Neopixels can do a whole range of colors and require a microcontroller to drive them. Something like this can handle several hundred pixels: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3675
We also have these strands which are one-color only and just need a battery:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/894
https://www.adafruit.com/product/897
https://www.adafruit.com/product/895
Another option for flexibility is EL wire. But they are not nearly as bright as LEDs. Also, the whine from the inverter can be annoying.
https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=el+wire
Side-light fiber-optics could also work. But it may be hard to hide the bulge from the light source:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4163
- LaraEco
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2023 11:38 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Ohhh I see! Thank you so much!
I’m interested in the first wire strands you linked, but my concern is that they’re spaced too far apart to get a solid colour through the fabric.. do you know if they exist in a more dense form or if those might be okay?
I’m interested in the first wire strands you linked, but my concern is that they’re spaced too far apart to get a solid colour through the fabric.. do you know if they exist in a more dense form or if those might be okay?
- michaelmeissner
- Posts: 1823
- Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:40 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Adafruit sells two books on cosplay lights, but unfortunately they are out of stock at Adafruit (perhaps they are available elsewhere):
I've only glanced at them, but they might be useful to give you ideas down the road.
I used https://www.adafruit.com/product/4560 in cosplay and they are more flexible than some of the other neopixel options. As adafruit_support_bill says they need a micro-controller, and that will add to the complexity.
Another option is sewing in individual lights and connecting them with individual wires. However, that seems to me an open invitation to wires breaking or shorting as you move about.
An old school approach would be to get glow in the dark fabric/paint that you need to charge by being in a strong light before using. These would not need a battery on the costume, but you might only have limited run time before the stuff fades away.
I used https://www.adafruit.com/product/4560 in cosplay and they are more flexible than some of the other neopixel options. As adafruit_support_bill says they need a micro-controller, and that will add to the complexity.
Another option is sewing in individual lights and connecting them with individual wires. However, that seems to me an open invitation to wires breaking or shorting as you move about.
An old school approach would be to get glow in the dark fabric/paint that you need to charge by being in a strong light before using. These would not need a battery on the costume, but you might only have limited run time before the stuff fades away.
- michaelmeissner
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- Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:40 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
In terms of being spaced too far apart, you can coil the cable as long as you don't kink it. Or if you are handy with a soldering iron, you can splice the wires (but in my experience, that can lead to breaking as you move about).
You could mount the lights on the back of the fabric, and drill holes where the LED would be.
You could mount the lights on the back of the fabric, and drill holes where the LED would be.
- michaelmeissner
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Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
There are 'fairy' lights that you can buy at various sources on the inter-tubes. Most often these are more available around the spooky season and winter holidays. Most of these are made to run off of either USB power banks and/or rechargeable AA/AAA batteries.
- LaraEco
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2023 11:38 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Thank you so much for your responses Michael, I’ll look into those books (if they’re available elsewhere)!
Aaa electronics scare me a lot 😂
Aaa electronics scare me a lot 😂
- LaraEco
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2023 11:38 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Oh gosh I hadn’t thought of fairy lights!! Now that’s a good idea!
- adafruit_support_bill
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Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Almost forgot: We recently started stocking these: https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=noods
They are super flexible, very bright and come in a variety of colors.
There is a guide for using them in costumes here. Note the effect on the lapels. Something similar may give you the effect you are looking for:
https://learn.adafruit.com/light-up-you ... with-noods
They are super flexible, very bright and come in a variety of colors.
There is a guide for using them in costumes here. Note the effect on the lapels. Something similar may give you the effect you are looking for:
https://learn.adafruit.com/light-up-you ... with-noods
- LaraEco
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2023 11:38 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Oh my god those look fantastic!! Just did some measurements and 300mm is the perfect length for one of her cuts
Thank you so much! I’ll do some extra research, but these seem perfect actually!
Thank you so much! I’ll do some extra research, but these seem perfect actually!
- michaelmeissner
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Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Yes, I also forgot about 'noods'.... They may be perfect for the OP's needs.
Now with cosplay one thing to consider is who is your audience, and what is the lighting conditions? You need a lot less light if it is darker and your audience is 3m or so away (i.e. hall costumes). If you are in bright sunlight, it may be impossible to really light a costume, at least without carrying larger batteries and possibly blinding the people near you. Likewise if you are entering a masquerade or being on stage where you want people 30m or more away, you might need much brighter lights.
And if you have lights that transition in color and/or blink, you may need to worry about the effect on people that are light sensitive (have epilepsy, etc.). Over time, I'm coming to the conclusion that stuff I do with neopixels needs these things:
Now with cosplay one thing to consider is who is your audience, and what is the lighting conditions? You need a lot less light if it is darker and your audience is 3m or so away (i.e. hall costumes). If you are in bright sunlight, it may be impossible to really light a costume, at least without carrying larger batteries and possibly blinding the people near you. Likewise if you are entering a masquerade or being on stage where you want people 30m or more away, you might need much brighter lights.
And if you have lights that transition in color and/or blink, you may need to worry about the effect on people that are light sensitive (have epilepsy, etc.). Over time, I'm coming to the conclusion that stuff I do with neopixels needs these things:
- A simple on/off switch that can use to completely turn off the lights without having to remove the battery;
- A switch that tells the unit to not sequence the colors and use a dimmer setting when you are talking to people face to face;
- A potentiometer that can control the brightness; (and)
- Optionally a way to re-charge the battery without taking the costume apart.
- LaraEco
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2023 11:38 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
I would be wearing this costume to a convention, so although they may not be visible during the day, the con lasts until long after dark when all the people with LED costumes can hang out XD
While I’m still looking into these nood things, I would assume it would be possible to connect them to a power pack/usb? I’m which case I will just store it on my back so that it is easily accessible
While I’m still looking into these nood things, I would assume it would be possible to connect them to a power pack/usb? I’m which case I will just store it on my back so that it is easily accessible
- michaelmeissner
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- Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:40 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Yes, day long or weekend conventions can need multiple batteries. I've had quite a few cosplay/steampunk things run out of power during the day.
With a weekend convention, you need to plan to be able to have enough chargers to charge things at night. You may need to make sure you have enough power strips or extension cords if you have multiple chargers.
In general, it is best to come prepared with multiple batteries. Before the convention starts, run your thing to get a sense of how long the batteries last. I always think of this after the fact when my battery has drained during the day.
I've been doing steampunk cameras for over 10 years now (modern camera inside of a steampunk box with bellows), and I've started designing the unit to be powered externally with a large power bank (and of course take 2 power banks, just in case). Before that, when I ran out of power, it would take me about 10 minutes to disassemble the unit, replace the batteries in the camera, and reassemble it.
With a weekend convention, you need to plan to be able to have enough chargers to charge things at night. You may need to make sure you have enough power strips or extension cords if you have multiple chargers.
In general, it is best to come prepared with multiple batteries. Before the convention starts, run your thing to get a sense of how long the batteries last. I always think of this after the fact when my battery has drained during the day.
I've been doing steampunk cameras for over 10 years now (modern camera inside of a steampunk box with bellows), and I've started designing the unit to be powered externally with a large power bank (and of course take 2 power banks, just in case). Before that, when I ran out of power, it would take me about 10 minutes to disassemble the unit, replace the batteries in the camera, and reassemble it.
Last edited by michaelmeissner on Sun Jun 04, 2023 3:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.
- adafruit_support_bill
- Posts: 88099
- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
The noods are pretty simple devices. Just provide power (3v) and they light up. As MichaelMeissner says, you may want the ability to adjust the brightness at times. But you can add that to your power-pack later if needed.
This guide has all the electrical details: https://learn.adafruit.com/noods-ubergu ... properties
This guide has all the electrical details: https://learn.adafruit.com/noods-ubergu ... properties
- LaraEco
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2023 11:38 am
Re: Cosplay help!! What sort of strips?
Thank you once again, you’ve been so helpful honestly!! I will absolutely run the suit before to test the battery life, hadn’t thought of that before
If I end up succeeding with this stuff, I will bring (probably too many) extra batteries just in case
Also steam punk cameras? That sounds awesome!
If I end up succeeding with this stuff, I will bring (probably too many) extra batteries just in case
Also steam punk cameras? That sounds awesome!
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.