Star Ceilings... Painted or Fiber optics? - Page 5

I'm gonna try it on a dark smooth chocolate brown ceiling myself. If that doesn't work out, i'm sh#t outta luck as like you, i don't want to compromise my PJ contrast from reflected light from a light colored ceiling. Since you've already got the samples coming your way, i'll follow your lead.

AS to your question....whichever lamp peaks at 7100K!

Charge times listed at the end of this article:
http://glowinc.com/glow-in-the-dark/light-source.aspx

"Maximum Charge" will change depending on the light source. A black light on for seconds can cause our products to glow brighter than an incandescent bulb lit for 10 hours. Of course, the speed of charge is also determined by the light source.

A "full charge" is also a hard statement. Under black light, most pigments will get to 80% of their charge within seconds, 90% over 30 seconds, 95% over about 2 minutes, 100% in about 10 minutes.

This is further complicated by the size of the pigment. Larger pigments can glow brighter and longer, but charge slower.

In conclusion, use a black light if possible. If white light is needed use CFL "Daylight" bulbs.

Here are more pics of the original posted image...

That is fantastic. Without a doubt. I showed it to my wife who has been rather uninterested in the planning details of ours so far, and that caught her imagination. I would be happy to have that ceiling in my HT.

I would be happier to have the next few months roll past first so it can be started and completed.

Months?!

MONTHS?!?!



I wish it were only months!

To folks using glow in the dark paint.. what happens when the movie screen is lit up - do you still see the stars ? or does it wash out. The few pictures of the glow in the dark version I have seen on this site, all seem to photograph the ceiling when there is nothing going on in the movie screen - except the last few on this thread

You can sort of see them for a few minutes then theyre gone.

Alright so being that Im looking to install a fiberoptic star ceiling in my apartment Im very limited on options given I can't access the top of my ceiling...So here is a crazy idea...Ive noticed some companies selling pre-routed pannels for drop/tbar ceilings...you think if I just got the panels ran the fiber line to the closet to the illuminator and just used liquidnails on the back of the panels to the ceiling it would hold? I know some companies make pannels that will screw into the ceiling but it would be cool if the panels were flush to the ceiling...any ideas or people here that have done starfield ceilings in their apartment???

I've seen some pre assembled panels for as much as 1800 per 4x8 sheet. They're proud of pre assembled.

As far as liquid nailing panels to roof, I would be concerned to pinch or break the fibers and possibly having to pull a panel down for some reason. If you had to pull one down liquid nails on fiberboard is tough and would necessitate almost certain destruction of the panel.

Hello all,

For quite a while I’d been interested in the starry ceiling concept for my HT, and a few months ago I finally decided to take steps to make it happen. I began to get familiar with the fiber optic solution through descriptions and photos, but wasn’t able to see an actual example until I learned that a friend and fellow HT enthusiast had just completed an installation as part of his theater build (in progress). I thought his ceiling display was really nice and was further inspired to flesh out my own plans.

As I continued to make preparations, I happened upon the Night Sky Mural website. At that time, I had not heard about mural painting as an option and, at first, mistakenly thought the site was another of the competing fiber optic approaches which I had come across while investigating the star field concept.

Anyway, like several others who have posted on this thread, I became more and more intrigued by the glow-in-the dark painting approach. Before long, I began to feel that a night sky mural was a better fit (in my particular theater room) for creating a star field display on the ceiling. Here are the some of the reasons that led to my conclusion:
1) The center ceiling light of my room would have to be eliminated altogether in order to fit a fiber optic star field in the desired area.
2) The location of the A/C vents on the ceiling would severely limit the size of the “sky window” I envisioned above the seating area---the max length of the fiber optic panel could be no more than about 8 feet. The other dimension of the window would likewise have to be limited (to about 4 feet), because the ceiling begins to slope downward just to the rear of the seats, and also because I did not want to remove a decorative ceiling canopy that my wife and I had made and installed between seating and screen. Bottom line: my window on the stars couldn’t accommodate a fiber optic panel any larger than approximately 4’ X 8’. Not an insignificant size and nicely situated above the seating…but not as large as I would have liked.
3) I couldn’t shake the motivation to find some way to cover more of the ceiling with stars, i.e., to achieve something larger than a window-sized display.

As I continued to think about options, I began to realize that that the night sky mural would allow me to achieve a full ceiling display in my room without modifying the ceiling at all . I was amazed to learn that the mural could be painted on a great variety of surfaces, including popcorn ceiling texture, fabric canopy material, wall paper, light fixtures, and A/C vents. As a consequence, it was not necessary to eliminate the center light fixture or to limit the size of the star field because of the other considerations I mentioned. So, the painting allowed me to expand beyond my smaller “sky window” approach. It was now possible to have a grander view of the stars that encompassed the entire ceiling area , including the fabric covered ceiling canopy in the front as well as the sloped, wall-papered ceiling in the rear.

At that point, I was really getting excited about the mural approach, so I communicated via email and phone with the owner/operator of Night Sky Murals (as it happens, the starter of this thread). We corresponded extensively back and forth with questions and answers for a couple of weeks before I finalized my decision. The whole process has been and continues to be a very positive experience. My wife and I love the mural---to us, it is a beautiful work of art, inspiring and remarkably realistic in its depiction of the night sky as it appears in conditions of minimal light pollution. Another great part of the experience has been getting to know the artist himself, a very nice guy and very easy to work with. He is, however, reluctant to accept the title of “artist”. I appreciate his modesty but I disagree with him about that. I believe there is a great deal of skill involved in his painting (in its detail as well as perspective). Moreover, he has put much effort over the years into finding the best paint mixture that evokes (somehow!) a twinkling “atmospheric effect” that strikes the viewer as uncannily similar to the actual night sky. So, I’ll repeat here what I told him personally: “If art can be defined as a creative representation of reality, then a night sky mural is a work of art and you are an artist.”

I’ve shared some of my thoughts and experiences about the sky mural concept and how it seemed just the right fit for our home theater. As J ("Night Sky Murals") has stated in this thread and elsewhere, there are upsides and downsides associated with both murals and fiber optics. So, before you decide on either option, take time to consider and plan carefully. Whichever you choose, I’m sure you’ll enjoy a new perspective on the cosmos and perhaps be inspired in ways you had not anticipated.

Happy home theater-ing!


Tom


"Joy in Being is not found by grasping at life selfishly, as though it were a possession that could be owned…but in receiving life as the Creator’s gift and realizing the profound cosmic privilege of having received it."

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or if you do it as a package deal, three pictures are worth ... um, even more words.

Show it off!

I am seriously thinking I am going to want a star ceiling in the room I am planning. My thoughts are that the murals look much nicer, the sky more fully populated and have more visual impact, but my concern is how long they remain lit in the dark. I am planning a room to view mostly concert DVD's want to create an 'outdoor' feeling in the room for concert discs, but I am concerned how I can darken it to watch a serious movie. With fiber panels, I can turn it off at any time and have a totally dark room. I am worried about the glow from the ceiling lingering during a dark movie and staying lit from the lighting reflecting off of the screen. Can anyone comment on that issue with the murals? Does the 'glow' ever really go away? If not, how bad is it when you really want a dark room environment?

BTW, Tom, thanks for your comments. I have a large ceiling to work with and the mural would be just the ticket. Your comments are very helpful.

I guess you're talking to me.

First, I need a digital camera that works. But second, my HT is a dedicated room with no windows, and it's pitch dark (and I mean really dark) when the lights are off. I know very little about photography, but I don't see how a photo in this room with only the glow of starlight will show much of anything.

In any event, the effect I was talking about is represented on this web page: http://www.nightskymurals.com/ . Just watch the slide show of photos as the lights fade from on to off. That gives you a pretty fair sense of the effect, although the rooms as shown in their darkened state still seem significantly brighter than my room with lights down.

For now, that's all I can offer in response. Maybe an HT enthusiast with a flair for photography is following this thread and can provide some additional photos.


Tom

So what is the best way to set up the lighting for this?

Do you set up black lights in a soffit? Do they make rope black lights? Can you just whip out a black light and put it in the center of the room for 20 minutes and charge the paint up?

I am in the process of getting my backlights mounted in my soffit. I believe this is the best way because you get easy on off and even coverage. Dont know about backlight ropes, but I don't see how they would put out enough light. I have been using a double bulb black light to show off for now... It does the job. Not as well as lights in the soffit though.

As far as lighting up the room, the glow paint does not do it... at all.

Hi JMartinko,

Glad to help if I can.

Well, the painted stars are designed to stay charged for several hours, so they will glow during that interval, slowly fading over time. They, of course, will fade completely if not charged again.

However, the thing I notice about the sky mural stars (even fully charged) is that they behave very much like real stars, which, after all, are always in the sky but cannot be seen in sunlight and can also be overpowered to some extent by moonlight or terrestrial light pollution. Like the real stars, the painted stars are very "shy" and tend to disappear quickly in the presence of brighter light sources. In my experience, that includes the light output of my front projection system. Only with the very darkest of movie scenes will a few stars reveal themselves and then only when they are still sufficiently charged. I'm struck by how invisible the mural remains until the lighting is very dim indeed---a relatively small quantity of light tends to wash out the stars. So, based on what I've experienced so far, I'd say it's unlikely that you will be distracted by lingering glow during a movie.

One other point (and maybe Night Sky himself can weigh in on this): Your concern about reflected light from projector and screen actually causing the stars to recharge during movie display is probably not an issue. I can say that I have had no problems in that area so far. Anyway, as I understand the process, the paint responds extremely well to charging from black light sources and other types of florescent, but is much less responsive to other lights. I don't know (but I suspect) that comparatively dim incandescence from projector light spill will be a negligible factor in recharging the painted stars. Perhaps someone who has more experience with this kind of light splash interaction can be more definitive.


Tom

Thanks Tom. I know people have discussed this issue, it is good to get some inputs from actual users. I am waiting for a second home to sell to start my project (tough market these days-fortunately house is paid off so it is not eating in to my savings account), but am doing the design on my computer and in my head with research on the side. I have really been taken by the star sky and these murals frankly look drop dead gorgeous and more realistic than the Fiber Optic sky. I have plenty of time to make a decision, but a huge vaulted ceiling. FO would be very expensive to implement over that much space to look effective. I will continue to follow the thread and check the pictures. As I mentioned, I really want the impact of the sky (likely would blue light the background) while watching concert dvd's. Has anyone tried varying the intensity of the blue lights to vary the intensity of the star field? It would be neat if low levels bring out only the major constellations, and then higher levels bring out a nebula and the background fields. That would be major cool, kind of like at dusk as the sky gets darker and the stars come out.

I don't want to have some friends in for a serious movie and hear them complaining because I can't shut the stars off and the room therefore is not a good theater environment. I guess I just want the best of both worlds, not usually possible on a budget.

@NightSky Did you use an airbrush when painting the clouds?? If so, what gun did you use??

Thanks!

Ok, so after reading through this whole thread I would really like to tackle this myself on my HT. I do have quite a bit of "artistic" experience but would like to know which paint is the best to use. Can someone please PM me with a brand (or preferably) a link to order the paint. The section of ceiling I will be doing is 15' x 9' and is painted a flat white. I will be installing black lights along the soffits. I'm guessing that the white will be ok?