Holography (not that highly technical)

[IntelSux]

When I went to Kennedy Space Center (in Florida), I saw some neat little bookmark holograms they had for sale for like $2 a piece. They were so cool I had to buy like 5 of them. I just had to!!. Now I'm hooked on holography. Does anyone know any links or resources on how to make your own? (for a cheap price that is.. I don't want to pay $900 to make them).....

Also, does anyone know any good stores that sell holographic stuff? I want to buy a lot of this stuff.

(the one that I bought is a plastic meterial that has 3d-looking cells on it and a sticker of a 3d planet. the sticker wasn't that good but the plastic stuff it cool.)

edit: how does this relate to computers? well, I heard there was a way to make 3d models right into holographs and I even heard of holographic printers and stuff.. maybe I could just buy one and print out 3d models?

thanks

--IntelSux

[kuanteen]

the holography where you turn the cards and another picture emerges???

[IntelSux]

no, I meant the one where the object appears to be 3d.

(if you saw the movie Harry Potter, think back when Harry was on the train. when he bought the whole cart of stuff and got a wizard card thingy. the wizard on the card was in total 3d.)

[hydrobond]

There was another thread on holography in the General Hardware forum. Here is a link. http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthre...hreadid=146863 One of the posts has a link to "zebra holography". It some nice stuff. But I am sure it is way too expensive. I doubt that you will be able to find any cheap holography equipment.

[Brahma]

I don't know how inexpensive you can get, considering you need a laser, but here's a place to start.

[Bash]

The materials for making holograms (laser, holographic film, developing chemicals) aren't too terribly expensive. One of the big problems with making holograms yourself is vibration. When I've exposed holograms, they use a ~5 second exposure time. Vibrations on the order of a wavelength of light (~600nm) during this exposure time will blur the hologram. Some people get around this at home with a slab of concrete / metal resting on an old tire inner-tube.

Of course, others of us use the nice floating on compressed-air optics tables in the labs where they work.

If you do google searching on holography or holography supplies you'll see lots of links. Looks like a starter kit might be aorund $400:
http://www.imagesco.com/catalog/holo...upplies01.html

Hope this answers some questions.
-Bash