Belly Glass Wash Out

[delphicoder]

I was just thinking through my first modded machine. All the steps involved. Many have complained about the backlit film wash out problem. So, the solution I have read is to print two copies.

I am thinking, why not just drop the 10 watt bulb back to 5 watt? It can't be that simple can it?

[Tulsa]

If you "want" a dim look to your belly glass it can be.

[delphicoder]

If you a dim look to your belly glass it can be.

???

[luckydog]

tulsa needs more coffee or something stronger :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Tulsa]

Sorry, other things on my mind tonight! :oops:

[wmas1960]

Not sure what you are asking about. Are you trying to take pictures of your machines but the glass is coming out too bright? If so, you can do one of two things. Either reduce the light coming through the glass, or cast some more light on the front of the machine. If you are taking pictures of the machines in dark rooms, the camera might be thinking it is darker than it is and increasing the exposure, thus making the glass too bright. By adding some normal light to the front, you can balance that off. Be careful not to use lights that are too intense as they may cause reflections that you may not care for. Try casting lights onto the machine from angles rather than straight on.

Another option, which also would be helpful if you are simply saying that the lights are too bright and when you are looking at the machines, the glass is washed out. Go to a photo store or shop where they might cater to professional portrait or studio photogrpahers. Or where they might supply lighting supplies and equipment for events, concerts, motion picture production, stagecrafts.... Get some material called a GEL. This material is used to alter, correct or control lighting. Either to correct imbalances in color or manage the intensity of bright lighting that may over power other areas of a set. Like a window leading outdoors on a bright sunny day, when shooting indoors. Since indoor lighting will be lower and usually orangey or yellow, outdoors can be very bright and blue, they use this material to equalize the lighting from outdoors to indoors etc. You can apply some of this to the back of the glass to reduce some of the intensity. Either to make it photograph better or just so it is easier on the eyes and looks better.

Neutral Density is what you are trying to achieve and you can get the material in varying levels of darkness. You can even take multiple sheets and stack them to achieve the proper level of light reduction.

I just did a little GOOGLING on the issue and here is some info.

I looked up a material from one manufacturer, ROSCO. They have gray materials called N.3 (one stop - lightest) N.6 (2 stops) and N.9 (3 stops - darkest). Looking a little further there may also be a N.15 which would be 1/2 stop or half the darkness or density of the N.3. (I guess N.15 refers to 1.5 compared to 3, 6 or 9). Each stop is 1/2 of the intensity of the next or double the darkening of the previous. Ie. N.6 will darken 2x the darkening of N.3.

It comes in rolls, 48" x 25'. Expensive but quite a bit there. $160 on one site I looked at.

Or you can get it in sheets, 21" x 24" for about $7.

Here is GOOGLES listing of possible sources to look through.

http://directory.google.com/Top/Shop...t/Expendables/

[delphicoder]

Wow, that was some cool information. I was talking about making a new belly glass, and the light behind it washing out the backlit film. Thanks for the information though, I will keep that in mind on some non pachislo projects.

[dapperdan]

I have tested 5 different kinds of inkjet printers and 2 different kinds of backlit film to find out what works best.

A Canon I9900 works great on red river Backlit film
http://www.redrivercatalog.com/brows...mp;prod=35.htm

Make sure you select the Transparency Option so it lays down a lot of ink. Image looks a little dark if not backlit but once it is backlit it looks normal.

The Only problem with this method is the Canon I9900 is a dye based printer so I am guessing in 1-2 years the image is going to start fading. This is the cheapest method (printer price, ink price, and film price) to get good results but if you want the image to look the same over a year then this may not be the best option.

What I have found to work best is to use an Epson 2200 Printer that uses Ultra Chrome (pigment) Inks that should last 100 years before they start to fade. The cheaper red river paper only works with Dye Based inks (I have tried it on pigment type printers and it makes a mess) so you have to use expensive backlit film that works with pigment inks
http://www.inkjetart.com/photo_papers/backlight.html

When printing with an Epson 2200 there is an option in the printer driver on how much ink you can lay down. I usually Increase it to 5% and then bump up CMY in the color settings to +15

Also it helps a lot if you set up your graphics correctly to use a mix of CMYK inks to get a rich black. I like to use C-60% M-40% Y-20% K-100% when making blacks in my files. If you use just Black without CMY mixed it, it will not be a deep black (on the epson 2200 that is, on the canon i9900 just using the black ink gives you deep blacks).

Hope that helps you out.

What kind of inkjet printer do you plan on using?

BTW, how is the sound mod coming along?

[delphicoder]

Hope that helps you out.

What kind of inkjet printer do you plan on using?

BTW, how is the sound mod coming along?

Thanks!
I am using a Canon i9900.

I have taken a break from the sound mod since I zapped my Gold God last Sunday doing something stupid. I really need some test boards.

[wmas1960]

So, if I understand you are trying to print new art for the glass and it isn't showing vibrant or rich enough? Sounds like Dapperdan might be onto part of the problem. Perhaps the ink on the transparency you are using, isn't dense enough. You could try some of the gel film behind to reduce some of the intensity of the light but I would think the real benefit will come with trying to get the transparencies printed very rich in ink and color.

I recall, when browsing around a site for a major Slot Manufacturer, they had a sub-site for registered customers where they could download all the art for their games. When they needed to replace glass, they could print out the transparencies and affix them to pieces of glass. I don't know What kind of printer they would use to do that but If you were a major casino with thousands of machines, it would make sense to be equipped with whatever kind of printer is necessary. You might, ultimately, need a serious printer to print quality transparencies like that. I don't know that an Ink Jet will yield such results. Might need to be Dye Sublimation or some other type of printer.

Are you making your own original art to print? Or, are you using copied art from, say, Copyrighted or Trademarked sources? If your own original art, you might think of going to AlphaGraphics, or Kinkos or other printing company and have them print your transparencies. It might be expensive but you might get the best results that way. Produce the art as large and high quality as you can and save it on a disc. If you have painted the artwork and it wasn't created in a computer, take the original in and have it professionally scanned. Have them save it on a disc for you and keep that somewhere safe, in case you need it again later.

Of course, if you are talking of copying right protected art, you might not get commercial printers to print it for you. When printing in your inkjet, make sure you are using highest quality or "Best Quality" settings on your printer driver and if there is a selection for type of printing medium, Paper, Glossy, Iron on Transfers.... Transparencies, make sure you are selecting Transparencies.

Good Luck, Sounds interesting.