Monitor MOD

[Crimson Sky]

This mod is really a killer idea. I love anything with bones and skulls!! Are you going to weather the bones and do a realistic appearance? I agree, leave the skull out of it. More interesting without.

my mouse pad (no hijack intended):

+5 reps (FYI, admins take or give 5 at a time)

[Spacehonkey]

Are you going to weather the bones and do a realistic appearance? I agree, leave the skull out of it. More interesting without.

Are you suggestion leaving the hologram out as well or just the physical skull?

I do plan on weathering the bones like your mouse pad but I still have a lot of practice to do before I can get it as realistic as you did. I've already read your book and luckily you used your skull mouse pad as the example in the chapter about painting. So I'll try and duplicate that paint job to the best of my ability. Hopefully I'll have all the parts I need in a couple of weeks so I can finally start getting my hands dirty.

[Crimson Sky]

Yeah I meant the plastic skull, glad you nixed it. about the hologram, I like! i don't have any suggestions though...

[Spacehonkey]

Yeah I'm having a problem trying to get a life size skull printed on a transparent sheet. I'm not even sure this is within reach for me.

I've e-mailed a few hologram and cell phone companies. So far no response but of course it's only been a day. I might try and see if there are any retailers locally and visit them this weekend. I really like the hologram idea and I think it'll complete my design. I'll still do the mod as planned but I'll always have that feeling that the job just isn't right without it. I guess that's something I might have to deal with. Ahhhh, every modders dream, the stuff I could build with an infinite amount of money, supplies, tools and resources.

This question goes out to everyone out there who's taking the time to read this post.
Any suggestions on where else I might find the type of hologram I need?

[Spacehonkey]

In the spirit of these DIY forums, I must venture the question:

Have you thought of maybe making this hologram yourself?

I know there is software out there to print 3d holograms, and even if you didn't have a decent printer, you could take it to somewhere like OfficeMax and have them print it out on their badass printers.

I have looked into some hologram kits. So far I found one that is around $150 but it looks like it can only take pictures of small items like a toy car. I did find a site that has a tutorial on how to make your own kit. The problem with doing it yourself is the low level of picture quality. In my readings I've discovered that you need to have the laser basically vibration free to get the best picture. Before I ventured into build a hologram or purchasing a kit myself I wanted to find out if a professional company could do it at a reasonable price. Also I haven't figured out if the cell phone holograms are just normal holograms printed on transparent sheets or something specify designed to make the image disappear when light is shined on it.

[Spacehonkey]

You have got to read this e-mail I just received.

This is the e-mail I sent out to one of the hologram companies:

I would like to know if you can print a human skull on a transparent sheet. I need the sheet to be roughly 22"x16" but the skull to be life size. I would also like to know if the hologram will react to light like the small hologram you can put on a cell phone. The idea is to have the skull be visible when the light is off but barely noticeable when the light is turned on. Thank you for your time and for any information you can give me.

This is the e-mail I received in response:
Thanks for your interest. There are too numerous issues with your question to get into without knowing financial viability. First and most important would be the illumination issue - holograms WORK ON LIGHT so having a light on it is CRUCIAL to make it work - without light they do not show up, period. The key would be to make it illuminate from a different light angle than other light - so for instance you would create the image to illuminate by a light source below the image and then when other room lighting comes on the lower light would go off so the hologram image would in effect disappear.

Again, without getting into logistics or even the type of hologram you would need (depending on many factors such as environmental etc), you would be looking at least $10,000 to do something at that size and possibly noticeably more - so that will help determine if it is even worth further discussion. Let me know, and again thank you for your interest,

Did you catch that $10,000+ That can't be right.

[Spacehonkey]

If I ever get the hologram idea off the ground my monitor should look something like this when the screen is turned off.

[Spacehonkey]

I found this while looking for printable decal sheets:
http://www.paper-paper.com/holo-magnetic.html

Thx for the find.

I just e-mailed them to see if the sheets are transparent. Now all I have to do is wait for a response.

[Ticien]

that is insane...I know ive seen holograms you put up on the wall bigger than a monitor for sale for a LOT less than 10 grand...I was really hoping to see a skull here, I am a skull fan...since the plastic skull idea got nixed I am really glad to see this, hope you can find one...it will look killer

[Spacehonkey]

I found this while looking for printable decal sheets:
http://www.paper-paper.com/holo-magnetic.html

Well I already got a response from these guys. Lets just say things aren't looking good. Here was his response.

I don't know of anyone in the world that makes the product you need.
Sorry

Steve

I did e-mail the company that quoted me the $10,000 and they responsed with a explaination of why it would cost that much.

Sorry but that is the reality.

1. Those small holos that you bought in the store (retailed originally for
$14.95 then eventually down to a couple bucks and never more than $0.20 cost from the DuPont factory) EACH cost in the area of $5,000 to setup (for the original master image - sort of like the negative but way more
complilcated) - they were only inexpensive when tens or hundreds of thousands of them were made.

2. You don't want one of those little guys but one that is huge by comparison, much larger than even the DuPont film was every made and requiring way more laser power to create.

3. When you made your "cell phone image comparison", I thought of this
example:
A cell phone costs anywhere from $20 to a few hundred dollars to purchase - lets take a Motorola for instance. Now imagine contacting Motorolla and saying "I want a cell phone, but I want it the size of a football, and by the way it has to ring at night but not during the day" and I only need one piece. How much would THAT cost?

Hope this gives you some idea of what you are asking - custom hologrpahy is highly complex, costly material intensive, and time consuming. I responded to this out of courtesy and appreciation for your interest in holography.

Best,

Peter

Now I understand the high price. I think the only way I'll be able to do the hologram is if I completely DIY. I now it won't come out as perfect as I would want it to be but what the hell it'll be a learning experience and who knows maybe just maybe it'll turn out better than I think. Now I've got to do some more research on building a holo kit. Keep your fingers crossed