Build a Custom Light Painting Kit: How the AOAM Kit Builder Works
6 min readThere are two ways to end up with a complete light painting kit: buy one of our three premade kits, or open the Kit Builder and assemble your own set around one RGB Critter BT, mixing and matching until it is exactly the kit you want. We sell both, and the honest truth is that each one is the right answer for a different buyer. Here is how the Kit Builder works, a sensible first custom kit with real prices, and a straight answer on when the premade box is the better deal.
The short version
Easiest on-ramp
Beginners kit
Ten tools in the box, priced below the sum of the parts. Best for first-timers and gifts.
$199.95
Build exactly yours
The Kit Builder
Assemble your own set around one RGB Critter BT, mix and match whips, sabers, staffs and accessories, and see exactly what fits before you buy.
Free to use
The everything box
Light Painting Pro Kit
The complete photographer's arsenal: the widest range of tubes, shapers and tools in one box. Overkill for a first-timer, and we say so.
$1,008.95
The premade path: three tiers, priced below their parts
The premade lineup is three photography kits, each built around the same removable light:
- Light Painting Photography Kit for Beginners ($199.95): the easiest on-ramp, with ten tools in the box, priced below the sum of the parts. Best for first-timers and gift buyers.
- Light Painting Starter Kit ($405.95): a broader set of light-shaping tools for someone ready to develop a real body of work.
- Light Painting Pro Kit ($1,008.95): the complete photographer's arsenal, the widest range of tubes, shapers and tools in one box, and honestly overkill for a first-timer.
Every tier runs on the same RGB Critter BT and the same app, so upgrading later means adding attachments, not rebuying electronics. If you want help picking between the three, our kit chooser guide matches each kit to the person it is actually for.
What the Kit Builder is
The Kit Builder is a page on our store that does one job: build a custom kit around one RGB Critter BT light. You mix and match whips, sabers, staffs and accessories from the catalog, and see exactly what fits together before you buy. Add a part and it lands in your kit with a running item count and total, so you watch the price as you go and check the whole thing out in one order.
Two details make it more useful than a collection page. First, the Fits my gear filter: tell it what you already own, and it filters the catalog to gear that fits it, which is the feature to use if a Critter is already in your drawer. Second, it holds your work: leave the page and your kit is saved, right where you left it when you come back.
A sensible first custom kit, with real prices
If you are building your first photography kit from scratch, this four-part recipe covers the core techniques without a wasted part:
- RGB Critter BT, $139.95. The light everything else on this list attaches to: 170 lumens, 16 million colors and 145+ modes through the free app.
- Light Painting Tube, 5 inch, $24.95. Smooth, even strokes and wall-of-color backdrops.
- Light Painting Blade Holder, $19.95, plus one blade from $4.95. Crisp edges, ribbons and slashes; buy the holder once and add blades for a few dollars each.
- Acrylic Writer, $19.95. Shaped for writing legible text and line work in mid-air.
Total: $209.75, a working light painting rig for a little over $200 that covers strokes, edges, backdrops and lettering. And here is the honest footnote: the premade Beginners kit is $199.95 with ten tools in the box, which is twenty cents more than this four-tool rig. If that lineup suits you, buy the box. The recipe wins when you would rather have these exact four tools than ten chosen for you.
Who should custom-build, and who should buy premade
Buy premade if you are new, buying a gift, or just want a curated set. The kits are deliberately priced below the sum of their parts, and the Beginners kit is the clearest example. A box that says "this is everything you need" is worth real money on day one.
Build custom in three cases. You already own AOAM gear, because the Fits my gear filter designs around it instead of selling it to you twice. You know your lane, because a flow-first buyer wants a whip or a saber in the kit rather than a photography box, and the Builder mixes both sides of the catalog. Or you simply have a specific build in mind and want each part to be a decision.
Still undecided? Start with the bare RGB Critter BT ($139.95). You cannot buy the wrong thing when the thing you are buying is the part every kit shares.
Growing the kit later
Whatever you start with, the growth path is the same, because everything shares the core. Add an Illuminator ($19.95) or more tubes ($24.95 to $54.95 by length) as your shots get more ambitious. Add a T8 Modular Adapter ($19.95) to run T8 tubes. Add a second Critter and a Critter Connector ($24.95) for double-ended builds, with the app keeping up to 10 connected lights in sync. Nothing you buy today gets orphaned: every tool runs on the same light and the same app, and the Kit Builder's catalog is there whenever the kit needs its next part.
Gear you'll want
Undecided: the part every kit shares
$139.95; 170 lumens, 16 million colors, the core the whole system runs on.
First kit with zero decisions
Light Painting Photography Kit for Beginners
$199.95; ten tools, priced below the sum of the parts.
Ready to build a real body of work
$405.95; a broader set of light-shaping tools.
The full arsenal up front
$1,008.95; the widest range of tubes, shapers and tools in one box.
Kit Builder FAQ
Is the Kit Builder free to use?
Yes. Building, filtering and pricing a kit cost nothing, and you pay through the store's normal checkout only if you buy it.
Does the Kit Builder save my kit if I leave?
Yes. Your kit is saved, and it is right there when you come back.
Is building a custom kit cheaper than buying a premade one?
Usually not, and we say so plainly: the premade kits are priced below the sum of their parts, like the Beginners kit. Build custom to get exactly the right parts, not to hunt a discount.
Can the Builder work around gear I already own?
Yes. The Fits my gear filter asks what you already own, then filters the catalog to gear that fits it.
What should a first custom kit include?
A Critter, one tube, the blade holder with a blade, and a writer: about $200 all in, covering strokes, edges, backdrops and lettering.
Can one kit mix photography and flow tools?
Yes. The Builder mixes whips, sabers, staffs and accessories around the same light, and the same Critter powers both lanes; only the attachment changes.
