How difficult is it to make a new LED suit?

In this article, we are going to describe what you can expect if you decide to make a new LED suit from scratch, and what mistakes you should try to avoid. There is a great variety of different types of technology on the market, but we are going to focus on LED analogue.

In the last couple of months, we have made two different LED suits. Both of them were made with analogue strips and have 16 to 18 different parts that can be controlled separately.

Tron Girls suits

We made this project because we already have a successful boys’ show and we wanted something different. And what can be a bigger difference than designing the suit for the opposite sex?

We didn’t want some robotic designs or giant, clunky costumes with tons of LED strips. We were looking for something that can really copy the feminine form while being fresh, interesting, and sexy. The very first idea was to use El Wire technology. But when we thought about it, we decided not to go for it due to it being quite an old technology. While many Tron Dance groups use the El Wire, the maintenance of it is just a nightmare, and you can’t really change the colour like with standard LEDs. Standard LED strip can’t really mould to the body. We needed something flexible, but with good performance, and that’s the reason why we picked the fibre optic cable.

• Just 1 main pixel
• Flexibility and possibility of curving the cable, so that it can -for example- copy the female form
• Option of attaching it directly onto the fabric
• Easily adjustable size of the cable (simply cut the cable where you need)

Disadvantages

• LED pixel can pull out from optic cable
• More curves mean less lighting intensity
• Cable can pull out from the suit during the more rigorous dance routines

Picture 2 Tron Girls

Another idea was to implement something extra into the show to make it even better. We were trying to come up with what it could be… We had some experience with UV shows from the past – this technology is very old and not very interesting for 2018 – but in combination with LEDs it makes for beautiful synchronization during the performance. The role for the UV lights is purely to have that little extra WoW effect in the show. Main disadvantages of implementing the UV light during the show is actually the logistics – the packing of all the kit after the event and the longer time for preparation time. Before having the UV lights, when we finished our performance we could go directly into the to changing rooms, pack there, then travel back or head to the hotel. With the UV it can become a tad more complicated if we are launching an event. Since the UV lamps are standing next to the stage, you can’t exactly pack them up during live shows, or any type of event that is supposed to carry on after our performance finishes. You need to take this into consideration – with UVs you will have to wait till break-time or the end of the event and pack then.

• Very aesthetically pleasing
• Two different technologies combined into one show for maximum effect
• Nobody else on the international market has got this combined technology
• Fresh blood (new project, new choreographer, new dancers)

Disadvantages

• Longer preparation in changing room (putting the UV make up, longer cable connections)
• Extra time spend because of the UV lights
• More expensive to make
• Ban for women to work in a few Arabic countries